In brief
In Jiangyou, a southwestern city, police stormed an underground Protestant congregation during Sunday worship, detaining two leaders and over 30 members for questioning. The raid involved SWAT teams and rerouted congregants into detention vehicles, while some were held in a ballroom for several hours. The church—founded in 2008 in Chengdu—is one of the most closely monitored house churches in China. Authorities' motives remain unclear, and the incident underscores growing tension between the Chinese Communist Party and unregistered Christian groups.
On Monday, an evangelical congregation in Jiangyou, south‑western China, announced that police had detained two of its leaders, Yan Hong and Wu Wuqing, amid a sweeping raid that seized more than 30 members, including children, during a Sunday service.
According to Early Rain Covenant Church, armed officers arrived at 11:00 local time, surrounded the hot‑air‑filled ballroom, and forced congregants to sit on red chairs while a team of SWAT specialists carried out “interrogation” procedures. Reports from the church estimate around 50 officers were present, with several police vehicles making a forced procession of the detained.
The detained leaders were taken to the Jiangyou detention centre, where they were questioned. While the parties remained locked in the ballroom, the remaining members sang hymns and prayed until most were released between 21:00 and 23:00. Some congregants even signed an affidavit in exchange for release, though details remain undisclosed.
Early Rain Covenant described the event as “a stark reminder that the Chinese Communist Party continues to treat peaceful Christian worship as a threat to state control,” citing Bob Fu of ChinaAid.
The church’s founder, Wang Yi, remains in a nine‑year prison term after a 2018 raid that convicted him of “inciting subversion of state power” and “illegal business operations.” Yan and Wu were previously detained in January for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” highlighting a pattern of repeated administrative crackdowns.
The Chinese state publicly acknowledges around 44 million Christians nationwide, but many do not belong to state‑approved churches and remain underground. The authorities’ pressure on house churches is increasingly intense, with heightened arrests and detentions reported across the country.
This latest raid follows a broader crackdown, such as the October 2025 roundup of 30 leaders from Zion Church, where the founder Ezra Jin is still in custody.
