China Frees Pastor Jin Mingri After 266 Days as Trump Personally Pressed Xi
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 17
China Frees Pastor Jin Mingri After 266 Days as Trump Personally Pressed Xi
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 17
Summary
Jin Mingri was released from a Chinese jail on July 3 after 266 days in detention and was escorted directly onto a flight to the United States.
Trump raised Jin’s case with Xi Jinping during a May visit to Beijing, and the pastor’s sudden freedom marked a rare concession from Beijing on a high-profile detainee.
Chinese authorities had detained Jin last October in what the report described as China’s biggest church crackdown in nearly a decade, sweeping up leaders from his prominent underground church.
Jin’s case underscored how politically sensitive detentions in Xi’s China can hinge less on courts than on top-level intervention, as with other prominent prisoners such as Jimmy Lai.