U.S. President Donald Trump disembarked in Beijing just after 8 p.m. local time on Wednesday, accompanied by an entourage of top American business leaders and economic advisors. With trade and access to technology as major points of contention between the two superpowers, early analysis suggests economics will dominate the agenda. 

However, another conflict also looms — one that many experts believe strikes closer to the heart of the tensions between China and the West and will deeply affect the state of human rights in the region for years to come. 

“These two systems are clashing,” Ambassador Sam Brownback said at a Hudson Institute event Tuesday. “This is the clash of civilizations.”  

Brownback, who served as Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom during the first Trump administration, elaborated on the existential threat posed by religion to the absolutist vision the Chinese government holds of itself as the sole legitimate object of loyalty for every Chinese citizen. 

“We’re in a battle today with the Chinese Communist Party and their authoritarian view that religion is the opium of the people — something that should be thrown out, discarded, persecuted, stomped on, and killed.” 

Continued Detention of Pastor Jin 

Also at the Hudson event was Grace Jin Drexel, daughter of the recently imprisoned Pastor Ezra Jin. Pastor Jin led Zion house church, the largest house church network in China, before his arrest on Oct. 10, 2025, just weeks before a Trump-Xi meeting later that month. 

Pastor Jin was arrested in a major sting operation targeting dozens of other Zion leaders, many of whom remain imprisoned to this day. Criminal charges against Jin were confirmed in November, ensuring that — even if eventually cleared of the bogus charges against him — he will likely remain in prison for a long period of time. 

Jin’s health is also suffering due to the negligence of his captors and their unwillingness to provide him with the care and medications he needs for preexisting medical conditions. 

Since his arrest, Jin’s daughter, Grace, has consistently advocated for her father’s release, speaking at human rights conferences around the world, repeatedly testifying before the U.S. Congress, and appearing regularly in media interviews. 

Speaking to reporters last week, Trump promised to raise Pastor Jin’s case at the upcoming meeting with Xi.  

“I’ve gotten a lot of people out of different countries, including China,” Trump said in response to a question about whether he would push for Jin’s release. “We’ll take a look at that.”

Jimmy Lai Still in Prison 

Analysts expect Trump to raise the case of high-profile Hong Kong Catholic Jimmy Lai, a media mogul imprisoned by the Chinese government under a national security law for operating a pro-democracy newspaper. 

Trump similarly promised to advocate for Lai’s release ahead of his October 2025 meeting with Xi. While he later confirmed that the conversation took place, Lai was not released. 

In February of this year, a judge sentenced Lai to 20 years in prison on national security charges — essentially a life sentence for the 78-year-old defendant, whose health is deteriorating under inadequate prison medical care. 

Reports from his family also indicate that authorities are preventing him from participating in practices important to his Catholic faith, including receiving communion. 

Lai founded Apple Daily, a tabloid, in 1995, quickly building it into Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy publication. When Beijing moved to fully absorb the city into its broader system of communist-driven authoritarianism in 2020, Lai and Apple Daily quickly came under scrutiny. The paper was shut down in 2021 after authorities arrested Lai and several staff members.

Since that time, Lai has become an international symbol of the Chinese Communist Party’s aggressive stance against free speech, religious freedom, and democratic values. Leveraging the same arguments it regularly uses against religious groups, the Chinese government insists that figures like Lai represent an intolerable threat to national security. 

A campaign is ongoing urging the U.S. government to demand Lai’s release as part of any future economic agreements with China. 

Widespread Culture of Persecution 

Religious persecution in China in 2025 reflects the deep entrenchment of Sinicization and authoritarian control. From the ongoing internment system in Xinjiang to restrictions on Christian house churches, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to define religion as a tool for measuring political loyalty. 

These measures are framed through counterterrorism rhetoric, which labels ordinary religious practices as extremist and allows the state to normalize repression. Women, children, and minority groups remain disproportionately affected, highlighting the gendered and generational dimensions of China’s campaign. 

Surveillance technology plays an increasingly central role, extending beyond China’s borders to monitor diaspora communities. Internally, every aspect of worship — from architecture to sermons — is regulated, leaving little space for authentic religious expression. 

While international organizations and governments continue to condemn China’s abuses, accountability remains elusive. The combination of population decline, demographic anxiety, and political insecurity has only intensified the party’s determination to control Christianity and other forms of belief. 

Under the CCP’s political philosophy, Chinese identity is defined by absolute loyalty to the state. Free religious practice, as a self-perpetuating alternative identity, is viewed as a threat to that hegemony and is vigorously opposed. 

Limited religious expression is allowed in state-controlled institutions such as the Protestant Three-Self Patriotic Movement and the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association. However, critics argue these bodies promote communist dogma above faith and function primarily as vehicles for political propaganda rather than genuine religious institutions. 

China’s religious landscape remains one of the starkest examples of authoritarian repression in the world. The persistence of faith under such conditions demonstrates the resilience of believers, yet without sustained advocacy and international pressure, persecution is likely to deepen further. 

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