China Detains Underground Church Leaders in Worship Crackdown
Chinese authorities have detained two prominent leaders of the Early Rain Covenant Church and interrogated dozens of its congregants during a SWAT raid on a Sunday service. The incident in Jiangyou underscores the Chinese Communist Party's escalating campaign to suppress independent religious practice and eradicate civil liberties.
What happened during the Jiangyou church raid?
On Sunday, armed police officers stormed a hotel ballroom in the south-western city of Jiangyou where members of the Early Rain Covenant Church were midway through their worship service. According to a statement released by the church on Telegram, at least 50 SWAT officers surrounded the congregants. More than 30 members and leaders were forcibly taken away in police vehicles and transferred to the Jiangyou detention centre for questioning.
Videos shared by the church show the remaining congregants, including the elderly and children, locked inside the ballroom and subjected to identity checks. In one clip, believers are seen singing hymns while a plainclothes officer repeatedly shouts from the stage for them to stop. Officers attempted to coerce those detained in the ballroom into signing an undisclosed affidavit in exchange for their release. The congregants refused and were eventually freed at 18:00 local time. Those taken for interrogation were released between 21:00 and 23:00.
Why is the Chinese Communist Party targeting the Early Rain Covenant Church?
Founded in Chengdu in 2008, the Early Rain Covenant Church has long been under the scrutiny of the Chinese Communist Party. The state demands that all Christian worship occur exclusively within state-sanctioned churches led by government-approved pastors. The Early Rain community, however, represents the growing number of Chinese citizens who choose to practice their faith independently, a fundamental exercise of individual liberty that the authoritarian state perceives as an inherent threat.
The church's founding pastor, Wang Yi, exemplifies the severe cost of this defiance. Authorities detained Wang Yi during a raid in December 2018, and he is currently serving a nine-year prison sentence on charges of