Pastor Jin Mingri Reveals Details of Release in VOA Interview: No Conditions Set by China, Not Even a Warning

Voice of America (VOA) conducted an exclusive interview with the released Pastor Jin Mingri, documenting his journey from being taken away in Beihai, Guangxi, facing obstacles in accessing legal counsel and staging a hunger strike in the detention center, to his transfer to Guangzhou and boarding a flight to the United States on July 3, 2026. He stated that the Chinese side did not impose any conditions, nor did they warn him against giving interviews, and he expressed his gratitude to the U.S. government, Congress, churches, and individuals from all walks of life for their rescue efforts. Jin Mingri also discussed the ongoing suppression faced by Chinese house churches, the eight colleagues who remain imprisoned, and his experience of listening to VOA on Mount Tai in 1989.

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I originally thought they were going to send me to a more secretive place and cut off my connection to the outside world. In terms of procedures, they didn't call it a release; they called it a transfer.

I realized I had gained my freedom while on the plane. There was an American consul sitting next to me, and he was the one who told me.

Thank you very much, VOA, for giving us this opportunity. We are also very happy to see you arrive in the United States after ten months of detention. Congratulations on regaining your freedom. This could not have happened without the efforts of all parties, especially the U.S. Congress, the Secretary of State, and the personal intervention of President Trump, which allowed me to gain my freedom so smoothly. I never dreamed of it; while inside, I had no idea what was happening on the outside.

At noon on July 3, I was preparing for a nap when the guard suddenly called me out. I thought I was going to court, or that I was being called out because of some situation. They told me to pack my things, implying I was getting out. I said, my only possession is a Bible. In reality, prisoners in China are not allowed to have Bibles. This time, we fought together, and they finally agreed to give us Bibles after a month. So I said, the only thing I have is a Bible; can I give it to the other inmates? They said no, you have to take it out.

That is how I came out, carrying only a Bible and nothing else. After I came out, all my clothes were changed. They didn't bring the clothes I was wearing when I went in; they bought me a new set to change into. The quality was actually quite good, and it had 'Nike' written on it, which I found very strange.

In terms of procedures, they didn't call it a release; they called it a transfer, saying I was being moved to another location, which is very strange. I had no reaction at the time. After I went out, the courtyard was full of police. They put me in a police car and found several other people to accompany me. When we passed the residential complex where I used to live, I thought they might drop me off at home and tell the outside world that this person had gained freedom, but in reality, it would be house arrest. This is a method they often use, but the car didn't stop; it took me directly to the high-speed railway station.

After entering the high-speed railway station, I was surrounded by police. They took me into a VIP room and later escorted me into a carriage on the high-speed train. The carriage was also filled with their people, and even the attendants were not allowed to enter. I sat on a stool alone, with three people watching me and constantly filming with a video camera. One person in charge asked me, 'Pastor Jin, do you know where you are going?' I replied, 'I suppose it must be to some secret place.'

At that point, they still hadn't told me where I was headed. Even now, no one knows where Gao Zhisheng or our Pastor Wang Yi are being held. When I tried to hire a defense lawyer, there were obstacles from all sides. Lawyer Zhang Kai's law firm was shut down, and his legal license was revoked. The fourth defense lawyer we hired, Lawyer Li Guisheng, also encountered many obstructions when he last met with me. So, I assumed they were taking me to a more secluded place to cut off my connection with the outside world. I asked if I was being taken to a secret location, and he only said, 'Think positively,' and said nothing more.

When the train passed through Nanning, I asked if they were going to drop me off there. Since I was heading to Beijing and had a Beijing household registration, flying would have been the most logical choice. But the train didn't stop at Nanning station. I started to get a bit agitated as it kept going until it reached Guangzhou. I didn't know why we were going to Guangzhou, but then I realized the only possibility was that there was an international airport there. We had been arrested and detained in Guangxi, and since Guangzhou has an international airport, I felt something might happen, but I had no idea what.

After getting off the high-speed train, they used a police car to take me to the international airport. In the VIP room, three chief prosecutors and prosecutors in charge of our case sat in front of me and announced their decision. They stated roughly that in 2007, I had pioneered the Xi'an church and developed churches elsewhere to seek profit, that the amount involved was such and such, that the evidence of the crime was conclusive, and the facts of the crime were established; therefore, according to the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, they decided not to prosecute me.

I said I didn't understand. They read it again. I said, 'It's not that I didn't understand what you said, but that your logic doesn't make sense. It should be that if the evidence is conclusive and the facts are established, you should decide to prosecute me in court; or if the evidence is not conclusive and the facts cannot be established, you should decide to release me. Both statements would be logical, but why say the facts of the crime are established and yet decide not to prosecute me and release me?'

The prosecutor was very nervous at the time and only said, 'I can only say this much.' I roughly understood, so I said, 'Thank you, President Xi Jinping, for making this wise decision.' They kept recording, and then I left. I assume it was the Ministry of Public Security personnel who took me through customs and directly onto the plane.

My passport had been confiscated by them and had been in their hands the whole time. It was only after they put me on the plane that they returned it to me. I found my seat and sat down. Next to me sat an American. At this point, I had roughly guessed. He said, 'I am Pastor Jin, welcome to your release. I am a consul from the U.S. Embassy.'

I was a bit dazed at the time; I couldn't have imagined such a thing happening. Because all information was cut off for those inside. That consul told me he had been waiting for me there for 8 hours. Not only the U.S. Embassy, but officials from the White House had also been waiting. The Chinese government had said they would release me that day, but they didn't know if I would truly be released. Only when I was on the plane could everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

After the plane took off, the consul told me more details. He said that according to the visa procedures at the time, it would have taken me at least 15 days to get a visa. Without a visa, according to aviation agreements, I wouldn't even have been able to board the plane. Multiple U.S. government departments issued certificates guaranteeing that I would definitely obtain a visa, which is why the airline allowed me to board. He said they were particularly excited because for 20 years, the U.S. side had made many efforts to rescue various people in China, but had faced more setbacks.

In the past, many people were usually convicted first after being released and then sent to a third country, because of concerns about the impact and out of consideration for the Chinese government's face, and it would take years before they could go to the United States. But this time it was very straightforward and very fast; the Chinese side did not put forward any conditions. I didn't know if there had been any dialogue between the two heads of state. Some people asked me if there was a deal, but what could I have used to make a deal? I am just a pastor of a house church.

Usually, when people like this are released, they are warned not to accept interviews or speak recklessly. But this time, there were no warnings at all, no conditions whatsoever. I suspect that under the current circumstances, this must have been personally approved by Xi Jinping, so the officials handling the matter didn't know how to treat me and were exceptionally polite. In the end, there wasn't even anyone to deliver such a warning; I only heard that they had decided not to prosecute me. I was incredibly excited and deeply moved.

The first night after my release was spent on the plane. I couldn't sleep at all, remaining in a daze. The consul soon rested, but I couldn't sleep, so I prayed. It wasn't until I boarded the plane that I learned 18 of us had been arrested in total. Nine were released on bail but remain under legal proceedings, while the remaining eight are still in prison. The consul showed me the list of my colleagues at the airport.

I was heading to the United States to meet my family in a way I had never dreamed of, and my feelings were extremely complex.

I was taken away by the Beihai police in Guangxi on October 10, 2025. After being detained on suspicion of illegally using an information network, I was held in a place we were unfamiliar with. The environment was terrible; more than 30 people were crammed into a narrow space. It was freezing in winter and sweltering in summer, and the food was not fit for human consumption.

But what caused me more anxiety than these conditions were the lawyers. The first lawyer I hired was Zhang Hai from Beijing. His law firm sent two lawyers, but after they had been defending me for a few months, the law firm was shut down. One lawyer had his license revoked, and the other faced a similar situation. A third lawyer worked for two months, but later, the local legal environment and the pressure on the lawyers' association forced the entire firm to stop practicing. We had no choice but to give up.

The fourth lawyer was Li Guisheng, who also worked for two months. On May 25, our case was transferred from the investigating unit to the procuratorate. The previous lawyers could do very little, but once a case reaches the procuratorate, the files and other materials become public, making the lawyer's role crucial because the indictment is being prepared.

I thought the lawyer should have arrived, but after waiting two days, I still couldn't see him. On June 3, after the procuratorate accepted the case, they began interrogating me. A prosecutor, whether by a slip of the tongue or intentionally, said that when he walked in, he saw my defense lawyer making a scene outside. That was lawyer Li Guisheng. I asked what he meant by "making a scene." He said the detention center wouldn't let him see me. That was when I realized the lawyer had already arrived, but they were giving him trouble.

After the interrogation ended, I immediately wrote a letter to my mother-in-law. I said: first, I will absolutely not plead guilty; second, I will absolutely not commit suicide; third, I have some debts because the government imposed administrative-like restrictions on my house in 2018, which affected my work and business, and I need my wife to know about these debts; fourth, I had promised friends some things, and now that I don't know what will happen, I hope my wife can help as much as she can. These were all things I had promised. I wanted to get the letter out quickly, knowing it probably wouldn't be sent, but I wanted to make a final effort.

On June 3, I announced a hunger strike. I went on hunger strike for two days; I was very desperate then. I said this was a necessary protest. Later, the chief prosecutor who announced the decision not to prosecute me appeared for the first time and asked why I was on a hunger strike. I said, "Do I have the right to hire a defense lawyer?" He said yes. "Then why were there so many obstacles in the process of me hiring a lawyer? Especially lawyer Li Guisheng, I must have him defend me."

The next day, he came to see me again and said they had studied the matter and that Li Guisheng could continue to be my defense lawyer, but it required a consensus from three departments. He hoped I would stop the hunger strike and start eating. I felt it was time to stop. The main thing wasn't just me personally; after I started the hunger strike, the people in the same room with me were also under pressure and punished, which made me feel very uncomfortable. Since he promised to find a way, I met with lawyer Li Guisheng again on June 9.

Li Guisheng didn't know I had been on a hunger strike, and when he found out, he was deeply moved. He said, "I promise you, no matter the cost, I will not give up defending you."

In the detention center, I missed my family the most; that was paramount. All 18 of us were in the detention center, and their plight also weighed on my mind. I actually didn't know the situation outside the church. I had heard some news from the outside, but based on the reality of the past dozen years, outside efforts hadn't had much impact on the cases. We knew that people from all walks of life were trying, but we never expected things to develop in this way, and in the end, I arrived in the United States.

What I want to convey, on the one hand, is gratitude for the efforts of all sectors, and on the other hand, is that when we stand together, new things really do happen. I never expected to come to the United States in this way, so I am especially grateful to everyone.

My case being able to attract so much attention certainly has a lot to do with President Trump mentioning my case to President Xi Jinping during his visit to China. If I have the opportunity, the first thing I want to say is thank you to President Trump. For an ordinary Chinese house church, the power and influence wielded by the US President are very significant. But I also hope the President will continue to pay attention to my colleagues and other house churches—not only Christian churches, but also other groups. They are currently in legal situations similar to mine, and I hope the US will continue to exert its influence to help China in its social transformation.

In July, the Chinese government took action against multiple Chinese house churches; for example, the Early Rain Church, Wuhan’s Cedar Church, and Hunan’s Rock Church were all raided, or individuals were summoned. I think this situation has actually been going on for quite a long time. After 2012, Wenzhou demolished crosses, cracked down on churches, and arrested house church pastors, including Wang Xiaoguang, Pastor Yang Longli, and Pastor Wang Yi. Beijing’s Pastor Tianming was placed under house arrest at home for 9 and a half years. There is also Pastor Gao Quanfu, who is a very influential pastor; he was imprisoned about a year ago, a month earlier than us.

It is not just recently that things have become difficult; rather, over the past decade or so, it has gradually become more and more cruel. Many churches have been suppressed by government public power because of their faith. This time, they even treated us as a fraud syndicate. I also told them: if you dare to sentence us, we will certainly fight back; no one will believe you, and your practice of stigmatizing and suppressing house churches through so-called laws must end.

Churches are communities that exist because of faith; they persuade people to do good and are a positive force for social reconciliation. I hope that all sectors of the international community can pay more attention and work together.

In recent years, China has handled diplomacy in the manner of a powerful nation, and has always opposed outside interference using issues like human rights to influence China. The US consul told me that US efforts over the years have often suffered setbacks, but this time my case clearly sent a message: when the media, the universal Christian church community, members of Congress, the US President, and the White House work together, they can indeed influence China. This is not a possibility; it is the living testimony of me standing here. The Chinese government will also consider how to handle such matters.

There are still 8 co-workers from the Xi'an church currently imprisoned. After I came to the US, I have been working day and night. My first goal is to win freedom for my co-workers—not necessarily bringing them all to the US, though that would be better of course, but in any case, to end the unjust accusations and trials against them. The Xi'an church absolutely cannot accept such things; they are all exceptional people.

I also want to talk about my June Fourth experience. On June 4, 1989, I was a third-year student at Peking University and had been to the square a few times, but I was not someone like Chai Ling. I acted together with my father and two other people; they were very important figures, and I was just an ordinary student. During June Fourth, there were some family matters, and I had to go to Qingdao to help my older brother.

Later, when I returned to Beijing, my current wife and I went up Mount Tai together. We went up the mountain on June 3 and came down on the morning of June 4 after watching the sunrise. On our way down, the loudspeaker all over Mount Tai was broadcasting Voice of America. At the time, I didn't know what had actually happened, only hearing that something bad had happened in Beijing, with the broadcaster saying that shots were fired at Tiananmen. At that time, I was still quite naive, thinking that something had happened to my classmates and feeling that I should go support them.

I arrived in Beijing early in the morning on June 5 and found that it was completely different from when I left; the entire city was paralyzed, and I couldn't even find a car. I returned to school, and the teachers all told me to leave Beijing quickly, so I left Beijing on June 9. Until now, I still don't know why Mount Tai's loudspeaker broadcast Voice of America on the morning of June 4; for me, this was a miracle.

Hearing Voice of America on top of Mount Tai in 1989, and today sitting in the Voice of America studio to communicate, sometimes makes life feel magical. In 2018, on the third day after the Beijing church was suppressed, the Voice of America Chinese website even did a special program for me and the Xi'an church, and I was interviewed over the phone. That program is still preserved on YouTube, and I am especially grateful to you. The Chinese website has a huge influence inside China, with many people listening and following, and your investigative reporting gave us a lot of strength.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Voice of America broadcasts had a relatively large influence. Back then, if we wanted to hear news from the outside, it was mainly through Voice of America. When sensitive events occurred, relevant groups paid special attention to Voice of America. I hope you will continue to speak up for China and keep up the good work.

Next, the most important thing is to fight for the freedom of my fellow workers. I am willing to do anything to help them. I am the principal offender, and almost all the responsibility lies with me; those good fellow workers are actually my students, and they have always followed me. Now that I have gained my freedom, they are still there, and I feel I cannot stand aloof and remain indifferent. Since Chairman Xi has already released the principal offender as well, I believe that from now on they should treat my fellow workers even better. This is my basic belief.

The second important thing is that my status has now changed, and how to support and help the domestic church from the outside requires readjustment. My family and I also need to adjust; as for what the future holds, I cannot think about it right now.

Thank you very much, Pastor Jin Mingri, for accepting this exclusive interview with Voice of America. I hope you can rest well, have all your wishes fulfilled, and everything goes well. Thank you.