Police in China have detained several pastors belonging to one of the country’s largest underground Christian communities, in what observers say is the most significant crackdown on the faith since 2018. Family members and church representatives confirmed that the arrests took place over the weekend and have sparked global concern.
According to Sean Long, a spokesperson for Zion Church, more than 150 worshippers have recently been questioned by authorities, and around 30 pastors and church members were detained in coordinated operations across the country. Most were later released, but nearly 20 remain in custody. The detentions come shortly after rising diplomatic strain between China and the United States, following Beijing’s expansion of export restrictions on rare earth materials.
Among those arrested is Pastor Jin Mingri, the founder of Zion Church, one of China’s most prominent unofficial “house churches.” His daughter, Grace Jin, said that he was taken from his home in Beihai on Friday evening. “He’s been hospitalised in the past for diabetes. We’re worried since he requires medication,” she said, adding that lawyers have been denied access to the detainees.
An official notice viewed by Reuters showed that Jin, 56, is being held at Beihai City No. 2 Detention Centre on suspicion of “illegal use of information networks,” an accusation that carries a sentence of up to seven years in prison. Supporters fear that authorities may use this charge to accuse the pastors of spreading religious messages online without government approval.
Zion Church, founded by Jin in 2007 after he left the state-sanctioned Protestant Church, has about 5,000 regular followers across nearly 50 cities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it gained thousands of new members through online sermons and local gatherings. Jin, a graduate of Peking University, converted to Christianity after witnessing the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.
This is not the first time the church has faced state action. In 2018, its main building in Beijing was shut down, and earlier this year, eleven of its pastors were briefly detained. Authorities also placed travel restrictions on Jin, preventing him from joining his wife and three children who live in the United States. According to Bob Fu, founder of the Christian rights organisation ChinaAid, Jin was stopped last month by police at Shanghai airport while attempting to fly to the US.
“The key underlying reason is that Zion Church has grown explosively into a well-organised network in recent years, which of course must scare the Communist Party leadership,” Fu said.
The crackdown follows recent directives by China’s top religious regulator that prohibit unauthorised online preaching and restrict foreign involvement in religious affairs. President Xi Jinping has repeatedly called for the “Sinicisation” of religion and stricter enforcement of laws governing faith-based activities.
China officially recognises over 44 million Christians through state-approved churches, most of them Protestant. However, independent “house churches” such as Zion are believed to attract tens of millions of worshippers who prefer to practice outside state control.
In response to the arrests, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Beijing to immediately release the detained pastors, calling the move a violation of basic religious freedom. “What just happened is part of a new wave of religious persecution this year,” Long said, describing the current situation as one of the most severe in recent years.
