Chinese lawyer defending Zion Church pastors flees to Taiwan amid firm shutdown pressure

Ruth Wang, a partner at VDoor law firm, fled China with her husband and two children after the government demanded the firm dissolve for representing pastors of the underground Zion Church. She arrived in Taiwan earlier this month, where the Mainland Affairs Council arranged temporary housing, even though Taiwan has no formal asylum statute. The crackdown began in October 2025 when 18 Zion Church members, including founder Ezra Jin, were detained; Jin was released in July after U.S. President Donald Trump raised his case with President Xi Jinping, while eight leaders remain imprisoned.

Chinese authorities ordered VDoor to stop Zion Church work, suspended several lawyers for six months, and stripped founder Zhang Kai of his license and travel rights. Wang refused a personal meeting request from officials while she was in Japan and is now considering resettlement in the United States or Canada. Human-rights advocates such as Bob Fu of ChinaAid and groups like Human Rights Watch have highlighted her case as evidence of mounting pressure on lawyers defending persecuted believers.