{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.merkley.senate.gov/merkley-cruz-lead-bipartisan-group-of-senators-to-urge-u-s-action-to-free-wrongfully-detained-pastor-jin-support-religious-freedom-in-china/", "Merkley, Cruz Lead Bipartisan Group of Senators to Urge U.S. Action to Free Wrongfully Detained Pastor Jin, Support Religious Freedom in China", "2025-11-19", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "OR", "Jeff Merkley", "M001176", "www.merkley.senate.gov", "merkley", "https://www.merkley.senate.gov/news/press-releases/", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Today, Oregon\u2019s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and Texas\u2019 U.S. Senator Ted Cruz led a bipartisan effort to push for immediate action from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in response to the Chinese government detaining Pastor \u201cEzra\u201d Jin Mingri and dozens of other Zion Church leaders for their beliefs.\n\n\u201cPastor Jin, the 56-year-old founder and senior pastor of Beijing\u2019s Zion Church, was detained on October 10, 2025, along with nearly thirty other church leaders, on allegations of \u2018illegal dissemination of information online,\u2019\u201d wrote the bipartisan group of 11 Senators. \u201cPublic reports indicate that formal indictments may soon follow, making this a critical moment for U.S. engagement on their cases. Strong and visible advocacy from the United States can help sustain international pressure, support efforts to secure their release, and show Chinese authorities that the world is watching. We urge you to seize this moment.\u201d\n\nMerkley and Cruz\u2019s letter was signed by Dick Durbin (D-IL), Peter Welch (D-VT), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Jim Justice (R-WV).\n\nThe Senators stressed, \u201cThe October 10 detentions represent the largest coordinated crackdown on an urban house church in four decades and underscore a troubling reality: the Chinese government is targeting people of faith simply for worshiping freely.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe commend your statement in support of Pastor Jin and the other detained Zion Church leaders on October 12. We urge you to follow up that statement with continued diplomatic engagement, to press your PRC counterparts to release Pastor Jin and the other detained church leaders, and to make clear that the United States will continue to speak out for freedom of belief and worship,\u201d they concluded.\n\nAs a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and past Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Merkley has worked tirelessly to shine a light on repression by the Chinese government, including its targeting of Uyghurs, Hong Kongers, Tibetans, and other vulnerable groups. He also joined a Cruz-led effort to unanimously pass a Senate resolution in support of Pastor Jin and condemning the persecution of religious minorities in China.\n\nFull text of the Senators\u2019 letter can be found by clicking here and follows below:\n\nDear Secretary Rubio:\n\nWe write to express deep concern about the ongoing detention of Pastor \u201cEzra\u201d Jin Mingri and other leaders of Zion Church by the People\u2019s Republic of China (PRC), and to urge the Department of State to press for their release.\n\nPastor Jin, the 56-year-old founder and senior pastor of Beijing\u2019s Zion Church, was detained on October 10, 2025, along with nearly thirty other church leaders, on allegations of \u201cillegal dissemination of information online.\u201d Public reports indicate that formal indictments may soon follow, making this a critical moment for U.S. engagement on their cases. Strong and visible advocacy from the United States can help sustain international pressure, support efforts to secure their release, and show Chinese authorities that the world is watching. We urge you to seize this moment.\n\nPastor Jin founded Zion Church in 2007. What began as a small congregation grew to more than 1,500 members before PRC authorities shut it down and confiscated its property in 2018 after Pastor Jin refused to allow surveillance cameras to be installed in the sanctuary. Following that raid, Pastor Jin traveled to the United States with his family. His wife and three children, including two sons and a daughter who are U.S. citizens, remain here. Despite the risks, Pastor Jin later returned to Beijing to continue leading Zion Church and has remained a consistent voice for peaceful religious practice in China.\n\nZion Church is one of the largest unregistered house churches in China, with online prayer services that draw thousands of participants. Its growth and independence outside state control have made it a target of the PRC\u2019s broader crackdown on Christians and other religious minorities. This campaign is part of President Xi Jinping\u2019s effort to \u201cSinicize\u201d religion and bring faith communities under government supervision.\n\nThe October 10 detentions represent the largest coordinated crackdown on an urban house church in four decades and underscore a troubling reality: the Chinese government is targeting people of faith simply for worshiping freely.\n\nWe commend your statement in support of Pastor Jin and the other detained Zion Church leaders on October 12. We urge you to follow up that statement with continued diplomatic engagement, to press your PRC counterparts to release Pastor Jin and the other detained church leaders, and to make clear that the United States will continue to speak out for freedom of belief and worship.\n\nThank you for your attention to this important issue.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.merkley.senate.gov/merkley-cruz-lead-bipartisan-group-of-senators-to-urge-u-s-action-to-free-wrongfully-detained-pastor-jin-support-religious-freedom-in-china/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.0842961966991425, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}