It may be small and little-noticed, but I would rank it among President Trump’s finest achievements in his second term so far: getting Chinese house church pastor Ezra Jin released from a Chinese prison. From ChinaAid:
According to information received by ChinaAid from trusted sources, Pastor Jin was released from detention and transported to the United States in an extraordinary diplomatic arrangement. Chinese officials reportedly informed him that his release resulted from discussions between U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, and was presented as a goodwill gesture coinciding with America’s Independence Day.
Pastor Jin had spent months in detention because of his Christian faith and ministry. His unexpected freedom is an answer to countless prayers offered by Christians around the world and demonstrates once again that sustained international advocacy can save lives and restore freedom.
“We rejoice with Pastor Ezra Jin, his family, and the global Body of Christ on this remarkable Independence Day miracle,” said Rev. Dr. Bob Fu, Founder and President of ChinaAid. “We thank Almighty God for hearing the prayers of His people. We are deeply grateful to President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and all U.S. officials who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to secure Pastor Jin’s freedom. Their unwavering commitment demonstrates that principled leadership and persistent diplomacy can make a life-saving difference.”
In a mid-May interview with Fox News in Beijing, Trump said he had brought up Jin and said, “I did feel optimistic about the second one that’s now under consideration, the pastor.”
This imprisoned Christian leader hit closer to home than most; during my trip to India last fall, I traveled with Bill Drexel of the Hudson Institute, who is Jin’s son-in-law.
An American president has enormous ability to alter the outcomes of ongoing human rights abuses, just by bringing them up with foreign leaders and emphasizing, directly and firmly, that the U.S. government is watching. Releasing an unjustly imprisoned figure is a relatively inexpensive way for an authoritarian regime to build goodwill.
On a lot of fronts, the administration’s approach to the Chinese government has seemed too conciliatory in Trump’s second term. But this morning, give the president and the administration all the credit: Without Trump bringing up the issue to Xi, Pastor Ezra Jin would probably still be in prison today.