BEIJING — China has released the founder of an underground church who has been detained since October, his church and family confirmed to AFP on Sunday, after US President Donald Trump raised his case with counterpart Xi Jinping. Ezra Jin is the founder of Zion Church, one of China’s unregistered churches that some Christians choose to worship at instead of state-sanctioned ones regulated by the government. Jin, also known by his Chinese name Mingri, was detained along with other church members on October 10 on “suspicion of the illegal use of information networks”. Trump raised his case when he visited Xi in May, and had said the Chinese president would “strongly consider” releasing him. On Saturday, rights group ChinaAid said in a statement that Jin had arrived in Los Angeles after being released from detention in China. The pastor was told by Chinese officials that his release “resulted from discussions between US President Donald J Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, and was presented as a goodwill gesture coinciding with America’s Independence Day”, the statement said. “We thank
