China’s Crackdown on Zion Church: William Nee on the Fight for Religious Freedom

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: [email protected] this episode of Faithful Politics, Will and Josh talk with China expert William Nee about the major October 2025 crackdown on Beijing’s Zion Church, one of the largest underground Christian networks in China. William explains what actually happened during the coordinated raids, why Pastor Ezra Jin (Jin Mingri) and nearly 30 church leaders were charged with “illegally using information networks,” and how all of this connects to Xi Jinping’s tightened national-security agenda.The conversation steps back to look at the broader picture: how “Sinicization” works, why the Chinese Communist Party fears independent faith communities, and what life is like for ordinary Christians when church gatherings, youth religious education, and online ministry can all trigger state action.William also describes how the U.S. government and human-rights groups are responding, why international attention matters, and what this moment means for Christians, Uyghur Muslims, Tibetans, and others facing religious restrictions in China. If you want clear, grounded insight into what’s really happening inside China’s religious-freedom landscape, this episode gives you the context you need.Guest bio:William Nee is the Senior Manager for East Asia at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), where he focuses on China’s human-rights landscape, civil society, and religious freedom. Before NED, he served as a China researcher at Amnesty International and worked with Chinese Human Rights Defenders. His work often covers the CCP’s efforts to control faith communities, including the recent crackdown on Zion Church and its founder, Pastor Ezra Jin.RELEVANT LINKSZion Church background:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_Zion_ChurchPastor Ezra Jin biography:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jin_MingriReuters report on the 2025 arrests:https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-underground-church-pastors-arrested-face-up-three-years-jail-2025-10-11/William Nee on X (Twitter):https://twitter.com/williamnee Support Sarah Stankorb’s work and preorder Damned If She Does: Why Women Quit Church and What It Means for the Future of Religion, Releases September 15, 2026.  Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9798889837091Website: https://www.sarahstankorb.com/Support the showKeep the conversation going.Want to learn more about Faithful Politics, suggest a future guest, or connect with us directly?Visit our website:faithfulpoliticspodcast.comBrowse our bookstore, featuring books from many of our guests:faithfulpoliticspodcast.com/bookstoreSupport the show and help us keep these conversations going:patreon.com/cw/FaithfulPoliticsSubscribe for behind-the-scenes content, reflections, and updates:faithfulpolitics.substack.comContact the hosts:Josh Burtram, Faithful Host: [email protected] Wright, Political Host: [email protected] Faithful Politics:Instagram: faithful_politicsFacebook: FaithfulPoliticsPodcast