Pastor Wang Lin, a Victim in the “10·9 Zion Church Case,” Still Has Not Been Granted Access to the Case Files by His Defense Lawyer

(Rights Defense Network Information Center report) On June 27, 2026, this outlet learned that on June 23, 2026, Zhang Lei, the defense lawyer for detained Pastor Wang Lin, went to the People’s Procuratorate of Yinhai District, Beihai City, to submit the authorization documents, but has still not been granted access to the case files.

Wang Lin’s biography: Born in 1982 in Hubei Province, he is a Christian, a former lawyer, a former pastor of Beijing Zion Church, and currently a pastor of Shanghai Zion Church; he is a signatory to “A Joint Statement by Pastors: A Declaration for the Christian Faith,” a victim in the “10·9 Zion Church Case,” and a Chinese prisoner of conscience.

In 2000, he was admitted to and studied at the School of Law of Zhejiang University (now known as the Guanghua Law School of Zhejiang University); after graduating from university in 2004, he joined a law firm and became a practicing lawyer; in 2006, he became a Christian after beginning to believe in Jesus Christ; in 2009, inspired by a calling, he decided to devotedly enter a seminary to study, and subsequently obtained master’s degrees in divinity and theology; after briefly becoming a teacher, he soon resigned and went to the United States without hesitation to continue studying theology at Wheaton College, IL (a private liberal arts college known for its outstanding academic reputation and Christian values) in Illinois, obtaining a doctorate in Old Testament theology in 2017; after graduating, he returned to China to spread the gospel and soon joined Beijing Zion Church, where he and Pastor Jin Mingri and others became pastoral staff;

In September 2018, as the number of people attending Zion Church increased day by day, the authorities wanted the church to accept management by the Chinese Communist Party-affiliated “Three-Self” church, but this was refused. As a result, the church was ultimately banned by the Chinese Communist Party authorities on the charge of promoting a “cult,” forcing it to become what was called an “underground house church”; from then on, the daily lives and whereabouts of the church’s pastors were monitored and harassed by the authorities, eventually forcing him to leave Beijing and ultimately go to Shanghai to carry out gospel ministry; although the environment for gospel ministry was difficult at the time, they continued to practice the gospel, working to strengthen the pastoral care of believers in Zion Church’s Shanghai branch through the small-group meeting model conducted by Zion Church and by sharing evangelistic videos online;

However, as the Chinese Communist Party authorities continued to intensify their suppression of religious belief, in June 2025, he and his entire family began to face frequent harassment by relevant departments, forcing them to move repeatedly, from one city to another. This had a serious impact on and brought pressure to his family’s life; in particular, his two children were unable to attend school normally, and the daily lives of his wife and children also became markedly more difficult; in September of the same year, the Chinese Communist Party authorities issued new religious regulations aimed at restricting online religious activities to officially registered channels, and he was consequently coerced, making his ministry in the church and normal evangelistic 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 locked up in a detention center; starting the next day (October 10), all branches of Zion Church across the country (including those in Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Shandong, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan and other provinces and cities) were attacked in coordinated operations by the authorities. More than 30 pastors, ministry co-workers and key believers were taken away, summoned, became unreachable or were criminally detained, while worship and meeting venues at the various churches were sealed, property was searched, and some ministry workers’ family members were threatened and harassed; although several pastors and believers were later released on bail pending trial, 20 pastoral staff and ministry co-workers remain detained to this day, and he is also suspected of having been criminally detained for “the crime of illegally using information networks”; in response, multiple Christian groups and international organizations and media outlets, both inside and outside China, expressed concern and issued appeals, stating that this large-scale arrest operation clearly shows that the Chinese Communist Party authorities’ suppression and persecution of China’s house churches has become normalized.

He is currently detained at Beihai No. 2 Detention Center (Pinyang, Gaode Town, Yinhai District, Beihai City, Guangxi Autonomous Region; postal code: 536005).