President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to speak tomorrow in South Korea, the first time they have met up during Trump’s second term in office. In recent weeks, a matter has emerged as critical for Trump to address during their meetup: the crackdown on Christianity that the Chinese Communist Party has carried out this month. Two weeks ago, authorities in China rounded up 30 Christians who belong to Zion Church, simply for following Christ outside the bounds set by the Chinese Communist Party. Those arrested include the Rev. Ezra Jin Mingri, who founded and leads Zion Church, as well as other pastors and church members. Some of the detained church members have been let go while others remain imprisoned. Chinese authorities also shut down Zion Church’s ability to hold online services and communicate openly over the internet. Zion had shifted to an a “hybrid” model back in 2018, when Chinese authorities demanded the church install CCTV cameras, and upon Jin’s refusal, shut the church down. The “hybrid” model consisted of a daily online devotional program that attracted upwards of 10,000 Chinese Christians, alongside smaller in-person prayer meetings in private homes. The Chinese Communist Party has worked to force all Protestants to belong to the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, and it seeks to inculcate adherence to the party through this state-sanctioned church. Jin objects to putting Christian worship under the domain of the Chinese government. In 2018, when he refused to bow to Chinese authorities’ demands, he said, “To be registered under the state is to surrender the soul of the gospel to Caesar.” The Chinese Communist Party works to force the many underground churches in China to join the Three-Self Patriotic Movement or the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, but many continue to operate, often through house churches like Zion Church. The Chinese Communist Party has a particular animus against Zion Church in part because it tends to attract more educated Christians from professional and intellectual classes and is well-organized. In addition, the church has some connections to Washington, D.C. Jin’s daughter, Grace Jin Drexel, is a Senate staffer, and his son-in-law, Bill Drexel, is a fellow at the Hudson Institute. Sen. Ted Cruz is leading the effort to hold China accountable for its campaign against Zion Church. “The Chinese Communist Party is conducting yet another sweeping crackdown on Christians, and they are again targeting Pastor Jin and the Zion Church. The CCP fears anything it cannot directly control, perhaps most of all, faith,” he told Fox News. “The United States has powerful tools to provide protection and relief to people facing persecution and violence, and we should use those tools unless and until China releases the members of the Zion Church.” Cruz has proposed a resolution in the Senate “expressing condemnation of the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of Christians.” The Chinese government’s crackdown on Zion Church is a particularly aggressive play in the lead-up to Xi’s meetup with Trump, especially as it goes beyond what the party has done toward Christians since 2018. Writing in Tablet, Bob Fu, who leads China Aid, an organization that promotes religious freedom in China, said the crackdown “marks an escalation in the CCP’s war on faith unseen since the days of Mao’s Red Guards.” Police, Fu wrote, had stormed homes across nine provinces the night of Oct. 9 to arrest Christians belonging to Zion Church. Xi is signaling his ironclad grip on China and total opposition to allowing his citizens to hold beliefs and worldviews outside of what is sanctioned by the Communist Party. Trump must use this meeting to demand Xi cease this persecution against Christians. Soon after the arrest of the Zion Church leaders, Secretary of State Marco Rubio released a statement calling for the Christians’ release and for freedom of religion in China. “We call on the CCP to immediately release the detained church leaders and to allow all people of faith, including members of house churches, to engage in religious activities without fear of retribution,” he said. Trump must not let Xi use the freedom of Christians in China, for which so many of his close allies are seeking, as a bargaining chip, but should instead demand their release and religious freedom for all Chinese. Jin’s only communication with the outside world since his arrest has been through a note passed through his lawyer that says “FEAR NOT.”