China detains dozens of underground church pastors in crackdown
By Laurie Chen
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese police detained dozens of pastors of one of the largest underground churches over the weekend, a church spokesman and relatives said, in the biggest crackdown on Christians since 2018.
The detentions, which come at a time when Sino-US tensions are rising again after Beijing dramatically expanded rare earth export controls last week, drew condemnation from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who on Sunday called for the priests’ immediate release.
Pastor Jin Mingri, founder of the Zion Church, an unofficial “house church” not sanctioned by the government, was detained at his home in the southern city of Beihai on Friday evening, his daughter Grace Jin and church spokesman Sean Long said.
“What just happened is part of a new wave of religious persecution this year,” Long said, adding that police have questioned more than 150 worshipers and increased harassment at in-person Sunday services in recent months.
Speaking to Reuters from his home in the US, Long added that during the same period, authorities detained about 30 pastors and church members across the country, but later released five.
About 20 pastors and church leaders are still detained, he added.
Beihai police could not be reached by phone for comment. China’s public security ministry did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment.
Long’s official detention notice provided to Reuters showed Jin, 56, was being held in the Beihai City No. 2 Detention Center on suspicion of “illegal use of information networks.” The charge carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.
Supporters fear Jin and other priests could eventually be indicted on charges of illegally using the internet to spread religious information.
Grace Jin said, “He was hospitalized in the past due to diabetes. We are worried because he needs medication.” “I was also informed that lawyers are not allowed to meet with priests, which worries us very much.”
The crackdown comes a month after China’s top religion regulator introduced new rules banning clerics from preaching or teaching religious education online without permission, as well as “foreign collusion.”
Last month, President Xi Jinping also vowed to advance “strict enforcement of the law” and the Sinicization of religion in China.
Official figures show that there are more than 44 million Christians registered with state-sanctioned churches in China, the majority of whom are Protestants.
But tens of millions more are estimated to be part of illegal “house churches” operating outside the control of the ruling Communist Party.
Zion Church, which has about 5,000 regular worshipers in about 50 cities, has been rapidly adding members during the COVID-19 pandemic through Zoom sermons and small in-person gatherings, Long said.
The church was founded in 2007 by Jin, also known as Ezra, after he resigned as pastor at the official Protestant church.
Long added that Jin, a graduate of the elite Peking University, converted to Christianity after witnessing the Tiananmen crackdown in 1989.
In 2018, police closed the church building in the capital Beijing during the crackdown on large churches. Earlier this year, police temporarily detained 11 Zion Church pastors, Long said.
Grace Jin said that the government imposed travel restrictions on Jin in 2018, so he could not visit his wife and three children who settled in the United States.
“I think he always knew there was a possibility he could be jailed,” he added.
Bob Fu, founder of the Christian NGO ChinaAid, said dozens of police officers forcibly apprehended Jin as he tried to board a flight to the United States from the commercial hub Shanghai last month, restricting his travel outside Beihai.
“The fundamental underlying reason is that the Zion Church has rapidly transformed into a well-organized network in recent years, which of course must be frightening the Communist Party leadership,” Fu said.
(Reporting by Laurie Chen; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
