Former US President George W. Bush has met with Chinese pastor and former political prisoner Ezra Jin at the Bush Institute, where the two discussed Jin’s imprisonment, his family and the future of China’s underground Christian church movement.
Jin, the founding pastor of Beijing’s Zion Church, was detained alongside nearly 30 other Christian leaders in October 2025 after authorities shut down the church’s physical location and the group continued broadcasting sermons online. He was released in July after nearly nine months in detention.
During the meeting, Bush expressed concern over prisoners of conscience in China and highlighted the cases of Pastor Wang Yi, Gulshan Abbas, Joshua Wong and Jimmy Lai, who are featured in his new book, The Call of Freedom.
The meeting comes as international attention remains focused on religious freedom in China and the treatment of members of unregistered Christian communities.
Jin’s visit to the Bush Institute brought his experience of detention and the wider struggles of China’s house churches into focus, underscoring continuing concerns over religious freedom and freedom of expression in the country.
