P astor Jin Mingri was eating dinner at his apartment in Beihai in China’s Guangxi province on 10 October when at least 20 plainclothes police officers barged in and arrested him. The founder of the Zion Church was among dozens of Christians who were arrested that month in a nationwide crackdown on unauthorised churches . Pastor Sun Cong was at a retreat for older church members on the outskirts of Beijing when he was arrested. And another pastor was detained at an airport in Shanghai. Taken together, the wave of arrests was quickly condemned by activists as one of the worst ever crackdowns on Christians in China . China has long promoted atheism and requires all religious groups to be formally registered, though smaller, unlicensed religious gatherings known as “house churches” have continued to operate in secret and online.…