AP Exclusive: Lawyer for China’s Zion Church seeks resettlement help while transiting through Taiwan

HONG KONG (AP) — A Chinese lawyer who defended a prominent underground church in Beijing fled to Taiwan and is seeking help for resettlement abroad, following mounting pressure from Chinese authorities on her firm and her colleagues.

Ruth Wang, partner at VDoor Law Firm, was part of a legal team that represented pastors and others from the Zion Church in Beijing since October 2025.

In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Wang said she is now facing direct pressure from Chinese authorities. She said they told her that she and her colleagues must dissolve their firm or have it shut down by authorities.

Last October, 18 members of the Zion Church in China , including its founder, pastor Ezra Jin , were arrested in one of China’s largest crackdowns on a single church in decades. Jin was freed two months ago, after U.S. President Donald Trump brought his case to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during a May meeting.

“If, as a partner in the firm, I don’t cooperate and sign to dissolve it, what will happen next?” Wang said Thursday in the online video interview from Taiwan, where she is in transit while seeking help on her next steps. “I believe it will definitely…