New arrests of house church members in China

On Tuesday, the authorities began cracking down on the leaders of Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, an underground Evangelical community founded by Rev Wang Yi, who has been in prison since 2018. In October, the Zion Church suffered the same fate.

Milan (AsiaNews) – In China 2026 began with a fresh crackdown on house churches and underground Protestant communities.

On Tuesday, a series of coordinated actions led to arrests of members of the Early Rain Covenant Church, one of the best well-known communities within this denomination, headquartered in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.

According to China Aid and Human Rights Watch, police raided the home in Deyang of the current house church leader, Li Yingqiang, who replaced the founder, Rev Wang Yi, after he was taken to prison in December 2018.

A number of other community elders were also taken into custody: Dai Zhichao, Ye Fenghua, Yan Hong, and Zeng Qingtao.

Police in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, also summoned Early Rain member Shu Qiong, on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” while another, Wu Wuqing, was summoned, then released and warned not to be “involved in the case."

The new wave of arrests targeting the Early Rain Covenant Church is part of the increasingly restrictive policy designed to control religions in the People's Republic of China.

It follows an operation against the Zion Church last October, with more coordinated actions in seven different cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Zhejiang, which led to the arrest of nearly 30 pastors, preachers, and members, including founder Rev Ezra Jin Mingri.

In December, the Evangelical church in Yayang, Taishun County (Wenzhou), was attacked. Wenzhou is known as the “Jerusalem of the East” due to its long and deep-rooted Christian history and was the epicentre of the battle against the demolition of crosses in Zhejiang Province a decade ago.

At least 20 members of the community remain in detention, while China Aid reports that scaffolding has been erected around the bell tower of the church, which allegedly refused to display the Chinese national flag at its entrance.

For their part, the authorities – led by the young local mayor Li Bin – are reportedly exploiting the crackdown to gain visibility within the Party ranks.

“The government should immediately free those detained and let them freely practice their religion," said Yalkun Uluyol, China researcher at Human Rights Watch, commenting on the latest developments.

Before becoming a pastor, Rev Wang Yi was a respected intellectual and legal scholar, mentioned in 2004 by the state-run Southern People Weekly as one of the 50 "most influential public intellectuals" in China. He eventually converted to Christianity in 2005 and subsequently decided to dedicate his life to church ministry.

The Early Rain Covenant Church, which he founded in 2008 based on Calvinist theology, owes its name to a passage in Psalm 84 that speaks of the blessing of the "early rain" that falls at the beginning of autumn.

This religious community has always remained outside the state system that requires religious groups to submit to government control.

Before coming under government scrutiny for the first time in 2018, it had around 500 members and included a seminary, a primary school, and a support unit for the families of political prisoners – all activities deemed illegal by Chinese authorities.

Popular among Chengdu's middle class, the Early Rain Covenant Church is seen by the authorities as a political nuisance due to its local influence but also its notoriety abroad.

Detained in late 2018 in an initial roundup targeting his community, Rev Wang Yi was sentenced to nine years in prison for “inciting subversion of state power” and “illegal business activities”. His prison term ends in December 2027.

• china
• chengdu
• sichuan
• religion
• discrimination
• repression
• early rain covenant church
• rev wang yi