International
Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on November 15, local
authorities raided a church in Taiyuan, Shanxi province during its
Sunday service, before detaining the preacher and six other members.
Around 9:20 a.m., a team of officials hailing from the public security
bureau, ethnic and religious affairs bureau, ministry of civil affairs,
and police station raided Xuncheng Church as the service was underway.
The public security commander went straight to the pulpit and
confiscated the cell phone of the presider, before demanding that
brother Zhang Chenghao go with them.
Next, the commander requested that the preacher, An Yankui, engage with them, to which An responded, “We are in the middle of our worship; please wait until our service is over.” The task force complied.
After the service, the commander and the staff from the ethnic and
religious affairs bureau questioned An’s qualifications as a preacher.
They wondered whether his credentials were approved by the state and
whether their gathering was registered with the government.
Unsatisfied by his answers, the task force demanded to take An away.
In turn, the churchgoers asked for proper legal documents for their
actions, to which the team only showed a disbandment notice from the
religious affairs bureau instead of an arrest warrant. They also failed
to show a summons letter and claimed that they were doing so verbally.
Regardless of the flawed legal procedure, the authorities still posted the disbandment notice on the house church’s door, prevented people from recording the incident,
and confiscated the members’ cell phones. They also recorded everyone’s
personal information and confiscated Bibles, hymnals, and choir robes.
Around 1:00 p.m., along with their preacher and his wife, five other
Christians were brought to the Pingyang Road Police Station for
interrogation. The police tried to mislead them into disclosing
unfavorable information about their church. They were asked to provide
the passwords to their cell phones. In response to their resistance, the
detained Christians were handcuffed and transported to another police
facility. In the process, sister Zhang Xiao-ai, who was keeping watch at
the entrance, was also taken away.
At 3:00 p.m., the Christians
were asked to change into prison uniforms. They were then handcuffed in
a detention room. It was not until 6:00 p.m. that they were able to
change back into their clothes and asked to each provide a statement.
These believers were only released around 9:30 p.m.
According to China Aid,
Xuncheng Church was planted by Early Rain Covenant Church (ERCC) in
Chengdu. Preacher An Yankui graduated from the seminary founded by ERCC
and is under the influence of reformed theology and ERCC Pastor Wang Yi,
who has been imprisoned since December 2018.
Gina Goh, ICC’s Regional Manager for Southeast Asia, said, “In
this day and age, where any religion in China has to submit itself to
the control of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and President Xi
Jinping, it is no longer a surprise that a house church is seen as an
enemy of the state and clamped down upon. China’s blindness to its
violation of religious freedom needs to be continuously exposed so that
Beijing knows it cannot get away with performing these evil acts.”
International Christian Concern is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) charitable organization focused on human rights, religious freedom and assisting the persecuted Christian Church around the world.
Media Contact
Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator
E-mail: press@persecution.org
Phone: (301)-859-3842
International Christian Concern
2020 Pennsylvania Ave. NW #941, Washington, D.C. 20006
www.persecution.org | E-mail: icc@persecution.org
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