China detains six underground church members in latest crackdown, church tells members

In this Tuesday, March 27, 2018, photo, Catholic religious paintings and Bibles are displayed behind bars at an underground Catholic church in Jiexi county in south China's Guangdong province. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

BEIJING -- Six members of an influential underground Protestant ‍church in China were detained by police this week, according to a church statement ‍to members seen by Reuters and non-governmental organizations, in the latest crackdown ‍on Chinese Christians.

The raid follows waves of large-scale detentions of unregistered Christians in recent months, as Beijing steps up scrutiny of churches that operate outside the control of the ruling Communist Party.

Beijing has long required religious groups to be registered. Under President Xi Jinping, the government has tightened control of all religions and in recent years increased crackdowns and regulations ⁠targeting unregistered organizations, making it even harder for them to raise funds, ‍preach online and hold in-person meetings.

The detentions of the members of the Early Rain Covenant Church, a large unofficial “house church” based in the southwestern city of Chengdu, took place on Tuesday, according to the church statement and a separate statement on the detentions from advocacy group Human Rights Watch.

Those detained included current church leader ​Li Yingqiang, whose home was raided by police, according to the church and NGO statements.

Reuters could not determine on what grounds the Early Rain Covenant Church members were detained or whether they had been charged. Efforts to ⁠contact the church through social media were unsuccessful.

Chengdu public security bureau did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“The government should immediately free those detained and let them freely practise their religion,” said Yalkun Uluyol, Human Rights Watch China researcher.

China ⁠has more than 44 million Christians registered with state-approved churches, the majority Protestant, ‌data shows. But tens of millions more ‌are estimated to be part of illegal “house churches” whose congregations meet in secret.

More than 100 Christians belonging to such churches were detained in a sweeping police raid near ⁠the eastern city of Wenzhou in December, according to Human Rights in China, a New York-based NGO.

Nearly 30 pastors and staff of Zion Church, another major underground church, were detained by police in a nationwide operation in October, the biggest such crackdown since ‌2018.

Established in 2008, the Early ‍Rain Covenant Church was raided by police in 2018, when founder Wang Yi and more than 100 pastors were detained. Wang was later sentenced to nine years in prison on subversion charges. NGOs estimate Early Rain has ‍more than 500 members, making it one ‌of China’s larger “house churches.”

By Laurie Chen

(Reporting by Laurie Chen; Editing by Kate Mayberry)