Underground church leader Jin Mingri has been released from prison in China and has travelled to the US, less than two months after his incarceration was raised directly by Donald Trump.
The pastor and founder of the Zion Church had been imprisoned following overnight raids across China in October, described by Christian groups as one of the strictest crackdowns on religious activity in the country’s modern history.
The Chinese government tightly controls religion and officially promotes atheism.
Jin’s family thanked supporters in a statement, adding: “We truly witnessed a miracle and we are feeling so overwhelmed with joy”. The Chinese foreign ministry has not officially commented on his case.
The family thanked the US president and the Trump administration “for their tremendous leadership”, and said they knew “this could not have happened without the direct intervention from [Chinese President] Xi Jinping”.
“We hope this is a signal of a positive turn for people of faith in China and relations between our two nations.”
