China has detained two leaders of an influential underground Protestant church, according to a statement from the church; the Early Rain Covenant church in Jiangyou said police stormed their Sunday service on Sunday, detaining Yan Hong and Wu Wuqing, among others.

Armed Police Stormed Church During Service

During the Sunday service in the south-western city of Jiangyou, armed police officers stormed the room where the congregation was gathered, according to the church’s statement posted on Telegram. The church. Founded in 2008 in Chengdu. Has long been under scrutiny by the Chinese Communist Party due to the tight control on religion in the region.

Founding pastor Wang Yi was detained in a raid in December 2018 and is serving a nine-year jail term for “inciting subversion of state power” and “illegal business operations.” The church stated that the reasons for detaining Yan Hong and Wu Wuqing on Sunday remain unclear. Chinese authorities have not responded to the statement or made any comment so far.

Forced Interrogations and Identity Checks

The church shared photographs and videos showing congregants seated in a hotel ballroom surrounded by SWAT officers. At least 50 police officers were present during the raid at 11:00 local time, according to some members’ estimates. More than 30 members and leaders were “forcibly taken away in several police vehicles” and questioned in the Jiangyou detention centre.

Throughout the process, the detained members “fellowshipped, sang hymns, and prayed until most of them were released,” the church stated. The remaining congregants, including elderly and children, were locked up in the ballroom and subject to identity checks. Clips show some congregants singing even as an officer in plain clothes took to the stage and repeatedly shouted for them to stop.

Officers tried to get those in the ballroom to sign an affidavit in exchange for their release but did not disclose what was in the affidavit. The congregants refused and were eventually released at 18:00. Those taken away for interrogation, apart from Yan and Wu, were released between 21:00 and 23:00 on Sunday.

Religious Persecution and Government Security operation

Chinese authorities said in 2018 that there were 44 million Christians in the country, but it is unclear if this number includes those who attend the many underground churches. The Communist Party pressures Christians to join only state-sanctioned churches led by government-approved pastors.

Many have turned to underground churches, also known as “house churches,” over the years, but Christian groups say the government’s grip has tightened noticeably, with arrests becoming more common. “[Sunday’s] raid is another stark reminder that the Chinese Communist Party continues to treat peaceful Christian worship as a threat to state control,” said Bob Fu, founder of non-profit ChinaAid, which monitors religious persecution.

In October last year, 30 leaders of Zion Church, another one of China’s biggest underground churches, were rounded up across seven cities. Its founder Ezra Jin is still in custody.