(New York) – Chinese authorities have detained half a dozen members of an underground Protestant church based in Chengdu, Sichuan province, Human Rights Watch said today. This was the latest in a string of arrests of members of prominent unofficial “house churches” in China in the past year.
The Early Rain Covenant Church posted on social media that on January 6, 2026, police raided the home of its current leader, Li Yingqiang (李英强), in Deyang and took him away. It said that other key church members were similarly taken into custody.
“The Chinese government has ushered in the new year with new arrests of underground Protestant church members,” said Yalkun Uluyol, China researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The government should immediately free those detained and let them freely practice their religion.”
Those detained include Dai Zhichao (戴志超), Ye Fenghua (叶丰华), Yan Hong (晏鸿), and Zeng Qingtao (曾庆涛). Another Early Rain adherent, Shu Qiong (舒琼), was summoned by police in Chengdu, Sichuan’s provincial capital, for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” Wu Wuqing (吴五清) was also summoned by the police, then released and warned against “being involved in the case.”
The Chinese government should immediately free those being detained for their religious beliefs and practices as protected under international human rights law. Until their release, the authorities should provide information about the detainees to their families and ensure that they have access to lawyers of their choice.
The crackdown on Early Rain Covenant Church occurred just weeks after authorities reportedly arrested approximately 100 members of another unofficial Protestant church, Yayang Church in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, between December 13 and 18, 2025. At least two dozen members remain in detention. Local authorities surrounded the church on January 5 with hundreds of armed and special police, as well as bulldozers and other machinery, apparently to demolish part or all of the church, according to the US-based religious freedom organization China Aid.
In October 2025, in a nationwide crackdown, the authorities arrested nearly 30 pastors, preachers, and church members of Zion Protestant Church in seven cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Zhejiang. Those arrested include the church’s founder and pastor, Ezra Jin Mingri.
In mid-2025, courts in China convicted about a dozen people affiliated with the Linfen Golden Lampstand Church, an underground Protestant church in Shanxi province, for fraud. The church’s cofounder and pastor, Wang Xiaoguang, and his wife, Yang Rongli, were sentenced to 9 and 15 years in prison, respectively.
The Chinese government has targeted the Early Rain Covenant Church, founded in 2008, for years. In December 2018, Chengdu police took into custody over 100 congregants. Its founding pastor, Wang Yi, was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2019 for “inciting subversion of state power” and running “illegal business operations,” while another church leader, Qin Defu, was imprisoned for four years for “illegal business operations.” Li Yingqiang, the current leader, and three others were briefly detained in September 2024 for suspected “illegal activities.”
The government has a long history of severely restricting the right to freedom of religion. The 2005 Regulations on Religious Affairs require all religious groups to be registered and under the control of the authorities. Protestant churches face repeated pressure to become affiliated with the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, the official umbrella organization for Protestants.
State control over religion has escalated since 2016, when President Xi Jinping pledged to “Sinicize” religion, and tightened ideological control. The authorities have demolished hundreds of church buildings or the crosses atop them, prevented adherents from gathering in unofficial churches, restricted access to the Bible, confiscated religious materials not authorized by the government, and banned Bible and religious apps. The Sinicization of religion has also meant severe repression of Tibetan Buddhism and Islam.
Concerned governments should publicly condemn the Chinese government’s assault on religious freedom and pressure the authorities to free those affiliated with underground churches who have been detained for exercising their basic rights, Human Rights Watch said.
“Xi Jinping’s government has tightened ideological control and intensified its intolerance of loyalties beyond the Chinese Communist Party,” Uluyol said. “Concerned governments and religious leaders around the world should press the Chinese government to free detained religious adherents and respect religious freedom in China.”
