An Open Prayer Letter from Zion Church Urging the Yinhai District Court of Beihai City to Immediately Release Wang Zhong and Wu Qiuyu

Dear family in the Lord and friends from all walks of life, Peace!

The “10·9” Zion Church Case has lasted for 323 days. On July 17, 2026, the Yinhai District Procuratorate of Beihai City prosecuted the case to the court of the same district. The court had originally planned to hold a pre-trial conference on August 10 and open the trial on August 14, but because the time was too rushed, the lawyers collectively protested and it was postponed. At present, the court has not yet notified the new pre-trial conference and trial time.

Hereby, we earnestly request everyone to continue praying for the eight Zion pastors and co-workers who have been imprisoned for nearly 11 months due to their faith: Gao Yingjia, Yin Huibin, Wang Lin, Wang Cong, Liu Zhenbin, Lin Shucheng, Wang Zhong, and Wu Qiuyu. Among them, we especially pray urgently and cry out for Elder Wang Zhong and Sister Wu Qiuyu to be released on bail as soon as possible!

During the procuratorate's review and prosecution, Wang Zhong and Wu Qiuyu expressed their willingness to plead guilty and accept punishment to the procuratorate on July 17 and August 6, respectively, so the procuratorate recommended to the court that they both receive probation. According to replies from a Deputy Procurator-General surnamed Pan and court staff, the procuratorate has proposed to the court to change the compulsory measures to release on bail pending trial.

Release on bail pending trial is a non-custodial compulsory measure. According to Articles 12 and 17 of the "Provisions on the Review and Evaluation of the Necessity of Detention by People's Procuratorates and Public Security Organs", in cases where probation is recommended, there is no criminal record, and they are accomplices, Wang Zhong and Wu Qiuyu should be assessed as having no necessity for detention, and the compulsory measures should be changed to release on bail pending trial. In general cases meeting the above conditions, the relevant personnel would be released immediately. However, the Yinhai Court has abused its power of detention and still refuses to release them. We express our strong protest against this!

On August 8, Wang Zhong's father was critically ill. His family immediately applied to the court for release on bail pending trial and submitted a critical illness notice. However, the court refused on the grounds of "needing to conduct a social harm investigation" and "worrying about not being able to attend the originally scheduled trial on August 14–18 on time", and made the family wait from the afternoon until midnight without action or response. Since then, the trial has been postponed and the specific date is to be determined. The original reason of "not making it back to the trial" no longer holds, but the court changed its story, claiming to be "worried about a heart attack on the way leading to hospitalization and inability to appear in court", while continuing to refuse release on the grounds that the "social harm investigation is not completed." The court treats various assumptions as grounds for refusal, while ignoring the risk that the person involved is equally likely to fall ill in the detention center and cannot receive necessary medical examinations during detention. This is clearly an abuse of the power of detention.

After struggling in the ICU for 11 days, Wang Zhong's father passed away on August 18. Wang Zhong suffers from severe coronary heart disease (had a stent, severe vascular blockage, requiring regular comprehensive checkups and treatment following medical advice). He has been detained for nearly 11 months, and his multiple applications for bail according to law have all been rejected. Under the circumstances where he clearly meets the conditions for bail, the court unreasonably refused based on various hypothetical reasons, continuously ignoring his life and health risks, and causing Wang Zhong to lose the chance to bid farewell to his father, resulting in a huge humanitarian disaster and family tragedy. In response, on one hand, we pray that God will have mercy and comfort Elder Wang Zhong and his family; on the other hand, we pray that God will execute righteous judgment, and we call on the international community to join in condemning the law enforcement agencies that abuse their power!

On October 10, 2025, Wu Qiuyu was taken away by the police in her own home in front of her two young children. Her husband, Pastor Yang Jun, was not in the country at the time and has remained abroad ever since. Currently, the older brother is 3 years and 10 months old, and the younger sister is 2 years and 5 months old. Since Qiuyu was arrested, the two children have been cared for by their maternal grandfather (64 years old) and maternal grandmother (63 years old). Due to the long-term absence of parental companionship, the sister has become indifferent to her parents and cannot express that she misses them. The brother has only scattered memories of his parents and sometimes tightly hugs his grandmother's leg asking for mom and dad. Wu Qiuyu made the decision to plead guilty and accept punishment mainly considering that her two children are young and neither parent is by their side, hoping to get out as early as possible to care for and accompany the children. Despite this, the court has repeatedly refused her application for release on bail pending trial with various unreasonable excuses.

When family members pressed the procuratorate on why the court did not grant bail, the reason given by the procuratorate was shocking: "We only make recommendations; the decision-making power lies with the court." When the prosecution conducts the plea-bargaining process with the parties involved, they would never say they only make recommendations and have no decision-making power. Why is it that when it comes to being held accountable, the statutory powers of the procuratorate are weakened to "only making recommendations"? The sentencing recommendation reached by the prosecution based on the parties' guilty plea and acceptance of punishment should normally be respected by the court. A probation recommendation means there is no need to continue detention. As a legal supervision organ, the procuratorate's procuratorial recommendation to propose probation and change compulsory measures itself possesses legal authority. In judicial practice, the court has no reason to reject the legal recommendation of the procuratorate; otherwise, it is an abuse of detention power and violates the original intention of the two parties in pleading guilty and accepting punishment.

Currently, Sister Wu Qiuyu and Elder Wang Zhong, along with six other pastors and co-workers of Zion Church, are still detained in the First and Second Detention Centers of Beihai City, facing false charges of "fraud" and/or "illegal business operations." We heard from brothers and sisters who have gone through prison life sharing: inside (the detention center), it is not just like days passing like years, but even seconds passing like years!

In recent years, the authorities have frequently used criminal charges of fraud and illegal business operations to harshly crack down on Chinese house churches. If this is the bitter cup measured out to us by God, we are willing to carry the cross and continue to follow Christ. However, we must also clearly warn and advise China's rulers not to play the role of Pontius Pilate and be nailed to the pillar of historical shame!

Here, we strongly appeal: Faith is not a crime! Church offering is not fraud! Bible training is not illegal business operation! Release the eight Zion co-workers! Our most urgent demands: The Elder's heart urgently needs treatment, and the burial of his deceased father cannot wait, release Wang Zhong immediately! The sister is weak and sickly, and young children longing for their mother cannot wait, release Wu Qiuyu immediately!

Pastoral Team, Board of Elders, Church Committee, and Family Members of Zion Church

August 28, 2026