Chinese authorities released Pastor Zhang Shaojie, a 59-year-old Christian, from prison on Nov. 16, after the man completed a 12-year prison sentence.

The pastor conveyed great joy over his release after regaining his freedom.

“Coming out of prison during this month of Thanksgiving has been full of God’s grace,” said Shaojie. “I have seen the Holy Spirit’s presence every day.” The pastor also stated that he was “deeply grateful for the help and support of the international community,” believing that “otherwise [he] might not be here today and might have been ‘disappeared.’”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., highlighted Shaojie’s plight in a 2017 letter to then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. The legislators stated there was a report of torture against the pastor. Specifically, it was alleged that “a prison official at the provincial level was directed by the head of the State Council Research Office to place Zhang Shaojie under ‘strict supervision,’ under which he [was]…deprived of sleep, food, and subjected to constant surveillance.”

Officials detained Shaojie in Nov. 2013 following a land dispute between the pastor and local government authorities. Shaojie, former pastor of Nanle County Christian Church in the central Chinese province of Henan, and his church had legally acquired land on which they planned to build a church.

According to Release International, “church members believed the Chinese authorities had targeted him to obtain the land and to prevent the ministry of the church from growing.”

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said Shaojie’s charges were “‘obstruction of official business’ and ‘gathering a crowd to disrupt social order,’ a reference to his congregation. The former charge was later changed to ‘fraud.’” The Chinese court handed Shaojie a 12-year prison term as a result.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has long persecuted Chinese Christians to maintain total control of the State. Chinese authorities often target pastors and churches if they gain too much traction.

The removal of crosses from buildings, arrests of Christians, and forced insertion of communist principles into Christian church settings have all been attempts to assuage fear within the party that the citizens of China may choose allegiance to something, especially Jesus, over them.

In a congressional hearing on Thursday, Sam Brownback, former governor of Kansas, told legislators that China’s war on religious freedom poses a serious threat.

“China is at war with faith, and it is at war with us,” Brownback stated. “China fears religious freedom more than they fear our aircraft carriers or our nuclear weapons. If the world’s largest authoritarian state can eradicate religious freedom without consequences, it undermines the authority of America’s founding values and global leadership.”

China was included in ICC’s 2025 Global Persecution Index and was listed by the U.S. Department of State as a Country of Particular Concern in 2024.

This article originally appeared at persecution.org and has been reprinted with permission. 

Founded in 1995, International Christian Concern (ICC) is a Christian organization. It’s an ecumenical, non-governmental, and non-partisan group focused on protecting the human rights of Christians and religious minorities.