CCP Rounds Up Members Of Underground Christian Church In Latest Crackdown

Chinese authorities have detained members of a prominent underground church as part of the government’s tightening control over unsanctioned religious activity in the country, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported Tuesday.

Six members of the Early Rain Covenant Church, an underground Protestant congregation in Sichuan province, were arrested this week, according to a church statement posted on social media that was cited by the human rights advocacy group. The arrests come just weeks after authorities arrested roughly 100 members of another unofficial “house church,” the group said.

“The Chinese government has ushered in the new year with new arrests of underground Protestant church members,” said Yalkun Uluyol, China researcher at HRW. “The government should immediately free those detained and let them freely practice their religion.”

Police raided the home of the church’s leader, Li Yingqiang, and took him into custody. Other key members were also reportedly detained, and two additional congregants were summoned by authorities, HRW reported.

Founded in 2008, the Early Rain Covenant Church has long been a target of Chinese authorities.

In December 2018, police detained over 100 congregants in a coordinated raid, and founding pastor Wang Yi remains in custody for “inciting subversion of state power” and running “illegal business operations,” according to HRW. In September 2024, Li Yingqiang and three others were also briefly detained.

The crackdown comes amid a broader wave of repression against Christians and other religious groups by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is officially atheist and bars its members from belonging to religious organizations.

Nearly 30 pastors and staff of Zion Church, another major underground church, were detained by police in a nationwide operation in October. Mingri “Ezra” Jin, the pastor and founder of the church, remains in custody.

Following the arrests, Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanded the release of the Zion church leaders and called on the Chinese government to “allow all people of faith, including members of house churches, to engage in religious activities without fear of retribution.”

Under President Xi Jinping’s policy of “sinicizing” religion, restrictions on Christians, Tibetan Buddhists and Muslims have intensified, including the demolition of unsanctioned churches, bans on online religious content and confiscation of unauthorized Bibles.

The Chinese government grants legal status to Protestant churches that affiliate with the “Three-Self Patriotic Movement” or the China Christian Council, which operate under the control of the CCP’s United Front Work Department, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Even churches that comply, however, have been forced to remove their crosses and replace the Ten Commandments with quotes from Xi Jinping, according to the Family Research Council.

“Xi Jinping’s government has tightened ideological control and intensified its intolerance of loyalties beyond the Chinese Communist Party,” Uluyol said. “Concerned governments and religious leaders around the world should press the Chinese government to free detained religious adherents and respect religious freedom in China.”