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China

• Summer Camp Raided

   

  

  A church-run summer camp was raided on August 23rd, resulting in the confiscation of personal and church property, as well as the temporary detention of the pastor and his wife. The police and religious bureau officials claim that the church in Gushi was organizing religious events without authorization. According to one church leader, Wang Guangming, the students were learning music theory when the raid occurred.

• Close Monitoring of Pastor's Wife and Son

  

  Pastor Wang Yi of the Early Rain Covenant Church is presently serving a nine-year prison sentence. He was arrested, along with his wife, in December 2018. While Pastor Wang's wife, Jiang Rong, was released on bail, the authorities have barred her from interacting with family, friends, and church members. She is being constantly monitored by security agents and essentially has no freedom of movement.

• Video Visit for John Cao

  

  In March 2017, Cao San-Qiang (John Cao) was detained and accused of "organizing illegal border crossings" between Myanmar and China. Pastor Cao, who is married to an American citizen, has been a long-time resident of North Carolina. Well known for his humanitarian work among the poor in Myanmar's Wa State, he has built 16 schools that serve 2,000 impoverished children.

• Churches Converted to Cultural Centres

  

  As China continues its crackdown on churches, some state-approved Three-Self Churches have been "voluntarily" converted into cultural centres. In Jiangsu province, the Flowing Stream Church was disbanded in 2019, accused of "occupying the village's cultural base." It has now been turned into the "Yangzai Township Flowing Stream Village Cultural Service Centre" where the socialist principles of President Xi are promoted, in the governing officials' attempt to spread "positive energy" to the community.

• Hundreds of Crosses Removed

   

  

  In the early morning of July 7th, more than 100 security personnel arrived at the Aodi Christian Church and Yinchang Christian Church in Wenzhou. They came with cranes and removed the crosses from atop the church buildings. Door locks were also broken, and some church property was destroyed. When church members tried to intervene, they were physically assaulted, resulting in several injuries. The elderly among them were not exempt from mistreatment, for a senior man in his 80s was disrespectfully pushed to the ground.

• Wife of Imprisoned Elder Begs for Prayer

  

  In December 2018, raids on the Early Rain Covenant Church resulted in the detention of more than 100 Christians. All have since been released except for Pastor Wang Yi, who is serving a nine-year sentence, and elder Qin Defu, who was sentenced to four years in prison for "illegal business operations." For previous written reports on Qin's case and the difficulties faced by other members of Early Rain Covenant Church, go to this page.

• Church Raided Again

  

  On May 3rd, security officers burst into a home where members of the Xingguang Church in Xiamen were meeting. Worshippers were dragged from the building (see the full report of this initial raid). In a second series of attacks, several homes where church members gathered for meetings were raided on June 11th. More than 100 officials from various governmental departments were involved in these attacks.

• Pastor Arrested During Online Meeting

  

  Pastor Luo was taking part in a "Proclaim Jesus Gospel Gathering" via Zoom when police took him away for questioning. At around noon on May 23rd, police entered the Nanjing Road Church in Wuhan and began searching the building. After finding Pastor Luo, they took him for interrogation which lasted more than four hours.

• Worshippers Dragged from House Church

  

  The Xingguang Church in Xiamen city meets in a residence because they refuse to join the government-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement. On May 3rd, security officers burst into the home while the church was gathered for worship. The Christian men who had been guarding the door were pinned down and worshippers were forcefully dragged out of the home. Calling the meeting illegal, the officers demanded that church members stop recording with their cell phones and then confiscated them. However, a short video clip has been made available here.

• Bethel Church Pastor Arrested

   

  

  The founder of the Bethel Church near Zhangjiajie, Hunan, was formally arrested on charges of "incitement to subvert state power" on April 2nd. Just weeks prior, state security officials had raided the home of Zhao Huaiguo in the early morning of March 14th, taking him into custody.

  Although there are few details on the specifics leading to the charges, Zhao's wife, Zhang Xinghong, says the arrest was likely due to him speaking to foreign news agencies about the COVID-19 pandemic. Another probable factor was his consistent refusal to merge his church with the official Three-Self Patriotic Movement, which resulted in harassment from authorities.