After Trump's intervention, Xi Jinping's regime released a Christian pastor who was imprisoned in Beijing

The communist regime of Xi Jinping released on Saturday a pastor from an independent Christian church who had been imprisoned two months ago, after President Donald Trump pressed for his release during his last visit to China.

Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, founder of the Zion Church in Beijing, was one of 18 church leaders arrested by the dictatorship in a series of detentions that were described by the press as "one of the largest crackdowns in China against a single religious congregation in decades."

Trump, who visited Beijing in May during a state trip, confirmed to the media upon returning to the United States that he had discussed the imprisonment of Pastor Jin, as well as that of Hong Kong activist Jimmy Lai, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in February for publishing material that the regime considered seditious and for allegedly conspiring with foreign forces.

"He said he was going to seriously consider the pastor's situation," Trump commented upon returning from the Asian country, although he also noted that Lai's release - founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily from Hong Kong - would be much more difficult.

The pastor's family thanked Trump's intervention

Several Western governments and human rights organizations demanded Jin's release, accusing Beijing of using national security laws to persecute dissenters. The pastor's family celebrated his release and emphasized that, without Trump's intervention, this would not have happened.

"We hope this is a sign of a positive turn for people of faith in China and for the relations between our two nations", the family expressed in a statement. "My father founded Zion to be able to worship freely in a church that placed God as its only head, just like many faithful Christians around the world," Jin's daughter had stated before the U.S. Congress in November.

In 2018, Jin emigrated with his family to the United States after Chinese authorities began a crackdown on the Zion Church. Despite the threats, the pastor decided to return to China. Eight members of this congregation remain detained by the regime.