A detained pastor from Beijing Zion Church has accused Chinese authorities of pressuring him to confess by invoking his young children during legal proceedings in a case against the prominent house church.
Pastor Liu Zhenbin made the allegation in a letter sent from detention, according to information provided by sources familiar with the case. Liu said a prosecutor in Beihai, a coastal city in southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, urged him to consider his children while seeking a confession agreement.
Liu wrote that a Beihai prosecutor told him, “Your children are still very young. You need to consider them.” He said the comment caused him deep grief because he longs to watch his children grow and regrets that he may not be able to do so.
Liu also alleged that the charges against him and other Zion Church leaders were intended to intimidate China’s broader house church movement.
“The purpose of all these baseless charges is nothing more than to achieve two objectives,” he wrote, “First, to ensure that no one in the house church movement will dare become a pastor; second, to make us retreat in the face of criminal punishment.”
Under Chinese law, using family members as leverage to obtain a confession would violate requirements governing lawful evidence collection.
Legal advocates and religious freedom groups have criticized Chinese authorities’ handling of the Zion Church case, citing concerns about due process and the basis for the charges.
Although Liu has been able to send out limited information, his family has reported that his correspondence rights remain restricted. He has reportedly been unable to receive letters, photographs, or books sent by family members.
From church closure to criminal charges
Liu, who was born in the 1980s and earned a master’s degree from Taiyuan University of Technology in Shanxi Province, became a full-time minister in 2016.
He later served at Beijing Zion Church, overseeing its Qingdao branch congregation. Liu and his wife have three young children.
Beijing Zion Church refused to join China’s government-controlled Three-Self Patriotic Movement, citing concerns that registration would compromise the church’s independence.
Authorities shut down the church in 2018, but the congregation continued outreach efforts online during the COVID-19 pandemic, expanding its influence among Chinese Christians.
On Oct. 9, 2025, Chinese authorities launched a nationwide crackdown targeting Zion Church, during which nearly 30 pastors and church members were questioned or detained. The action followed years of government pressure against the unregistered congregation.
On Oct. 11, 2025, police removed Liu from his home in Qingdao and confiscated personal belongings, according to reports from supporters of the church. After months of investigative detention, authorities changed the original accusation of “illegal use of information networks” to the more serious charges of “illegal business operations” and “fraud.”
Eight Zion Church pastors and ministry workers remain detained, including Pastor Liu Zhenbin, Pastor Wang Lin, Pastor Gao Yingjia, Pastor Yin Huibin, Pastor Lin Shucheng, Pastor Wang Cong, Elder Wang Zhong, and Wu Qiuyu.
The church’s senior pastor, Ezra Jin, was released after nine months in detention and arrived in the United States on July 4 following high-level diplomatic engagement between the United States and China. Jin has since advocated for the release of the remaining detained Zion Church leaders.
The Zion Church case has been marked by allegations of procedural violations and criticism that the charges lack a factual basis. Religious freedom advocates have described the crackdown as part of a broader campaign by Chinese authorities to restrict independent Christian communities.