{"id":2532607,"date":"2026-01-11T16:01:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T21:01:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/chinese-communist-party-rounds-up-members-of-underground-christian-church-in-crackdown\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T16:03:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T21:03:10","slug":"chinese-communist-party-rounds-up-members-of-underground-christian-church-in-crackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/chinese-communist-party-rounds-up-members-of-underground-christian-church-in-crackdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Communist Party Rounds Up Members of Underground Christian Church in Crackdown"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fchinese-communist-party-rounds-up-members-of-underground-christian-church-in-crackdown%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2532607&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>chinese authorities have detained multiple members of the Early Rain Covenant Church, an underground Protestant congregation in Sichuan, Human Rights Watch reported. Police arrested six congregants this week, raided the home of church leader Li Yingqiang and took him into custody, and summoned two othre members; the moves follow a recent round of arrests targeting another unofficial house church. Early rain has long faced repression &#8211; a coordinated 2018 raid detained over 100 congregants and founding pastor Wang Yi remains imprisoned on charges including &#8220;inciting subversion.&#8221; The detentions are part of a wider campaign under Xi Jinping&#8217;s &#8220;sinicization&#8221; policy that has intensified controls on Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, Muslims and other religious groups, including demolition of unauthorized churches, bans on online religious content and confiscation of Bibles. Nearly 30 pastors and staff from the Zion Church were also detained in a nationwide operation last October,and international figures such as U.S. Secretary of State marco Rubio have called for the release of detained religious leaders. Human Rights Watch urged the Chinese government to free those detained and allow people to practice their faith freely.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Chinese authorities have detained members of a prominent underground church as part of the government&rsquo;s tightening control over unsanctioned religious activity in the country, Human Rights Watch reported Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>Six members of the Early Rain Covenant Church, an underground Protestant congregation in Sichuan province, were arrested this week, according to a church statement posted on <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/fanghong00\/status\/2008715227236548985\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">social media<\/a> that was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2026\/01\/06\/china-new-arrests-at-underground-protestant-churches\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cited<\/a> by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/heres-why-disney-employees-are-walking-out-across-the-country\/\" title=\"Here\u2019s Why Disney Employees Are Walking Out Across the Country\">human rights advocacy group<\/a>. The arrests come just weeks after authorities arrested roughly 100 members of another unofficial &ldquo;house church,&rdquo; the group said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Chinese government has ushered in the new year with new arrests of underground Protestant church members,&rdquo; Yalkun Uluyol, China researcher at Human Rights Watch, said of the arrests. &ldquo;The government should immediately free those detained and let them freely practice their religion.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 100%; max-width: 550px; margin: auto;\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\" style=\"text-align: left;\">Chinese authorities are conducting another round of high profile arrests against Early Rain Covenant Church of Chengdu. The PRC&rsquo;s war against faith continues to escalate. Back in 2018, ERCC and Zion were two of the most prominent targets of that campaign, and Pastor Wang Yi of&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/VBwOtrD5R2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/VBwOtrD5R2<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">&mdash; Bill Drexel (@bill_drexel) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bill_drexel\/status\/2008553221766156709?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n<p>Police raided the home of the church&rsquo;s leader, Li Yingqiang, and took him into custody. Other key members were also reportedly detained, and two additional congregants were summoned by authorities, Human Rights Watch reported.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Founded in 2008, the Early Rain Covenant Church has long been a target of Chinese authorities.<\/p>\n<p>In December 2018, police detained over 100 congregants in a coordinated raid. Founding pastor Wang Yi remains in custody for &ldquo;inciting subversion of state power&rdquo; and running &ldquo;illegal business operations,&rdquo; according to Human Rights Watch. In September 2024, Li Yingqiang and three others were also briefly detained.<\/p>\n<p>The crackdown comes amid a broader wave of repression against Christians and other religious groups by the Chinese Communist Party, which is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/backgrounder\/religion-china\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">officially atheist<\/a> and bars its members from belonging to religious organizations.<\/p>\n<p>Nearly 30 pastors and staff of Zion Church, another major underground church, were detained by police in a nationwide operation in October. Mingri &ldquo;Ezra&rdquo; Jin, the pastor and founder of the church, remains in custody.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 100%; max-width: 550px; margin: auto;\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"zxx\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/hsxt8cccws\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/hsxt8cccws<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">&mdash; Zion Church CN (@CnZion) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CnZion\/status\/1977437135360905295?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 12, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n<p>Following the arrests, Secretary of State Marco Rubio <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SecRubio\/status\/1977361424167920000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">demanded<\/a> the release of the Zion church leaders and called on the Chinese government to &ldquo;allow all people of faith, including members of house churches, to engage in religious activities without fear of retribution.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Under President Xi Jinping&rsquo;s policy of &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rfa.org\/english\/news\/china\/religion-controls-08032023122520.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sinicizing<\/a>&rdquo; religion, restrictions on Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, and Muslims have intensified, including the demolition of unsanctioned churches, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/reports\/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom\/china\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bans<\/a> on online religious content, and confiscation of unauthorized Bibles.<\/p>\n<p>The Chinese government grants legal status to Protestant churches that affiliate with the &ldquo;Three-Self Patriotic Movement&rdquo; or the China Christian Council, which operate under the control of the CCP&rsquo;s United Front Work Department, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uscirf.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/2024-09\/2024%20China%20Factsheet%20Sinicization.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Even churches that comply, however, have been forced to remove their crosses and <a href=\"https:\/\/bitterwinter.org\/xi-jinpings-quotes-replace-the-ten-commandments\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">replace<\/a> the Ten Commandments with quotes from Xi Jinping, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/downloads.frc.org\/EF\/EF23J17.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Family Research Council<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Xi Jinping&rsquo;s government has tightened ideological control and intensified its intolerance of loyalties beyond the Chinese Communist Party,&rdquo; Uluyol said. &ldquo;Concerned governments and religious leaders around the world should press the Chinese government to free detained religious adherents and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/even-the-chaplain-was-denied-air-force-reserves-refusing-religious-exemptions-for-covid-19-vaccine-mandate\/\" title=\"\u2018Even the Chaplain Was Denied\u2019: Air Force Reserves Refusing Religious Exemptions For COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate\">respect religious freedom<\/a> in China.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"disclaimer\">\n<p><em>All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >legitimate news publisher<\/a> that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter&rsquo;s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>China arrests six members of underground church<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2532608,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-01-07T163944.909.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[51019,4501,43545,70601],"class_list":["post-2532607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-ccp-2","tag-china","tag-religious-persecution","tag-underground-church"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-01-07T163944.909.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2532607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2532607"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2532607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2532611,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2532607\/revisions\/2532611"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2532608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2532607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2532607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2532607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}