China Detains Two Leaders of Influential Underground Church

Chinese authorities have detained two leaders of an influential underground Protestant church after police reportedly raided a Sunday worship service and questioned dozens of members, including children.

The Early Rain Covenant Church, based in China’s south-western city of Jiangyou, said armed police officers entered the venue during a service on Sunday and took several congregants away for interrogation.

The church said two of its leaders, Yan Hong and Wu Wuqing, remain in custody, while the reasons for their detention have not been made public. Chinese authorities have not issued a statement on the incident.

The church, founded in Chengdu in 2008, has previously faced pressure from Chinese authorities due to strict government controls on religious activities.

Its founding pastor, Wang Yi, was arrested in 2018 and is serving a nine-year prison sentence after being convicted of charges including “inciting subversion of state power” and “illegal business operations.”

According to church members, at least 50 police officers were involved in Sunday’s operation. More than 30 members and leaders were reportedly taken away in police vehicles and questioned at a detention centre.

The church said those detained continued to pray, sing hymns, and support one another during the questioning process. Most were released later that evening.

Images and videos shared by the church showed congregants seated in a hotel ballroom surrounded by SWAT officers. Some elderly people and children were reportedly kept in the room while authorities conducted identity checks.

The church claimed officers asked some members to sign an affidavit in exchange for release, but the contents of the document were not disclosed. The congregants reportedly refused and were later allowed to leave.

The two detained leaders had previously been questioned by police, including an incident in January when they were summoned on allegations of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.”

China officially recognises state-approved churches, but many Christians attend independent “house churches” outside government supervision.

Religious rights groups say restrictions on underground churches have increased, with more arrests and investigations in recent years.

Bob Fu, founder of ChinaAid, an organisation that monitors religious persecution, said the raid showed that Chinese authorities continue to view independent Christian worship as a challenge to state control.

Last year, leaders of another major underground church, Zion Church, were also reportedly detained across several Chinese cities.