Detained Zion Church Pastor Wang Lin Reveals Conditions of Detention

(Rights Defense Network Information Center report) On October 30, 2026, this outlet learned that detained Zion Church Pastor Wang Lin recently disclosed the conditions of his detention.

Wang Lin said: 30 to 40 detainees share a 40-square-meter sleeping platform; their diet consists mainly of boiled vegetables; some sick detainees have difficulty obtaining effective treatment in a timely manner; and a 36-year-old detainee died suddenly of an illness in October. Wang Lin specifically noted that the detention center’s loudspeakers are set at an extremely high volume, causing him severe psychological stress.

Chinese Communist Party prison authorities should ensure detainees’ basic living conditions and right to medical care.

Wang Lin’s biography: Born in 1982, from Hubei Province, Christian, former lawyer, former pastor of Beijing Zion Church, current pastor of Shanghai Zion Church, signatory of “Pastors’ Joint Statement: A Declaration for the Christian Faith,” victim of the “10·9 Zion Church Case,” and prisoner of conscience in China.

In 2000, he was admitted to and attended Zhejiang University’s School of Law (now known as Zhejiang University Guanghua Law School); after graduating from university in 2004, he joined a law firm as a practicing lawyer; in 2006, he became a Christian after beginning to believe in Jesus Christ; in 2009, feeling called, he decided to devote himself to studying at a seminary, later earning Master of Divinity and Master of Theology degrees; after briefly working as a teacher, he soon resigned and resolutely went to the United States to continue studying theology at Wheaton College in Illinois (Wheaton College, IL, a private liberal arts college known for its outstanding academic reputation and Christian values), earning a PhD in Old Testament theology in 2017; after graduating, he returned to China to spread the Gospel widely and soon joined Beijing Zion Church, becoming one of its pastoral staff alongside Pastor Jin Mingri and others; in September 2018, as the number of Zion Church members grew day by day, the authorities wanted the church to accept the management of the “Three-Self” church, which has ties to the Chinese Communist Party, but the church refused, and the CCP ultimately shut it down on the grounds that it was promoting a “cult,” forcing it to become a so-called “underground house church”; from then on, the authorities monitored and harassed the pastors in their daily lives and movements, eventually forcing him to leave Beijing and go to Shanghai to carry out Gospel ministry; although conditions for Gospel ministry were difficult at the time, they continued their work, using the small-group gathering model organized by Zion Church and sharing preaching videos online to strengthen their pastoral care for believers in Zion Church’s Shanghai congregation; however, as the CCP authorities continued to intensify their crackdown on religious belief, he and his family began facing frequent harassment by relevant departments in June 2025, forcing him to move repeatedly from one city to another, which seriously affected and put pressure on his family’s life, especially as his two children could not attend school normally and daily life became noticeably more difficult for his wife and children; in September of the same year, the CCP authorities issued new religious regulations intended to restrict online religious activities to officially registered channels, and he was pressured, making his church ministry and ordinary preaching activities increasingly difficult; on October 9, 2025, when he flew from Shanghai to Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, he was intercepted and arrested by police at Shenzhen Bao’an Airport and immediately taken to a detention center; beginning the following day (October 10), authorities launched coordinated raids on Zion Church congregations across the country (including in Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Shandong, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan and other provinces and cities), taking away, summoning, rendering unreachable, or criminally detaining more than 30 pastors, coworkers, and leading believers, sealing church worship and meeting places, searching property, and threatening and harassing some coworkers’ family members; although several pastors and believers were later released on bail pending trial, 20 pastoral coworkers remain in custody, and he is also suspected of being criminally detained for “illegally using information networks”; in response, multiple Christian groups and international organizations and media outlets in China and abroad issued statements of concern and appeals, saying the large-scale arrests clearly show that the CCP authorities’ crackdown and persecution of China’s house churches has become routine; as of now, his family has not received a detention notice, and his family members have been barred from leaving the country; on November 18, in addition to the five people previously released on bail, the other 18 pastoral coworkers were formally arrested by the Yinhai District People’s Procuratorate of Beihai City on suspicion of “illegally using information networks”; on June 18, 2026, after three rounds of criminal investigation by the Yinhai District police in Beihai City, his case reached the maximum seven-month period for investigation in custody for major cases; it was learned that day that nine pastoral coworkers in the case were released on bail pending trial, but he and eight other church leaders—Jin Mingri, Gao Yingjia, Yin Huibin, Liu Zhenbin, Wang Cong (female), Lin Shucheng, Wu Qiuyu (female), and Wang Zhong—remained in custody, with their alleged offenses changed to “illegal business operations” and “fraud,” and the case transferred to the Yinhai District People’s Procuratorate of Beihai City for review and prosecution; on July 4, after Pastor Jin Mingri was suddenly released by the authorities and sent to the airport to fly to the United States, Jin’s wife, Su Ziming, spoke out, urgently calling on the Chinese government to immediately release the other eight “pastors still in custody,” including Wang Lin; on July 17, the Yinhai District People’s Procuratorate of Beihai City formally indicted all eight people who remained in custody, and six of them were indicted on suspicion of “fraud”; he is currently detained at Beihai No. 2 Detention Center (Gaode Town, Pingyang, Yinhai District, Beihai City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, postal code: 536005).