Photo: Courtesy.
Authorities in China arrested six Christians during a major clamp down on Churches that participate in online prayer services, an activity deemed illegal in the Asian country.
International Christian Concern (ICC), a persecution watchdog group based in USA reports that during an online worship session to celebrate Easter on April 12, several key members of one heavily persecuted Church known as Early Rain Covenant Church (ERCC) were taken away from their homes by the Public Security Bureau .
“The church was conducting an online worship session, when suddenly six leaders were taken by the Public Security Bureau from their homes,” ICC reported in a statement.
Speaking during an exclusive interview with ICC, a member of the Church whose identity was concealed, narrated events that led to the arrests.
“At that time I was also in the Zoom call, but there was a long period of time where I did not hear a thing. I thought it’s the network connection issue at first, but I soon heard a quarrel erupt. Our coworker Wang Jun was questioning some people, [saying], ‘Who are you to do this [to us]?’” she said.
She revealed that, in addition to Wang, other leaders such as Guo Haigang, Wu Wuqing, Jia Xuewei, Zhang Jianqing and Zhang Xudong were also taken away. One member’s home had its electricity cut off, while others received phone calls that “police [were] coming to visit them soon.”
The Christian Post says that the 5,000-member Sichuan house church, led by pastor Wang Yi, has not been able to gather in person since the incumbent communist government shut down the church in 2018 and arrested their pastor and other leaders. Since then, it has opted to gather online, the news source says.
A supporter of ERCC shared his narrative of the Easter arrest on Twitter, “Since 8:30 a.m., some security officials have entered these Christian families’ homes and pretended to be chatting with them casually. At 9:30 a.m., the worship began, and they were also invited to participate. Once they realized that the sermon was from ERCC’s imprisoned pastor Wang Yi, they immediately shut it down.”
Her account was echoed by Zhang Jiangqing, who was warned by the police at his house, saying, “Don’t participate in already banned [religious] activities anymore! Don’t listen to Pastor [Wang]’s sermons anymore! If you do this again, we will deal with it seriously and take you away!”
ICC says the six briefly detained Christians have since been released, and their electricity was restored later in the day.
It is not uncommon for the local authorities to take additional measures against ERCC during major Christian celebrations or anniversary events, ICC reports.
The organisation’s Regional Manager for Southeast Asia conde Gina Goh condemned the arrests saying, “It is such a shame that the Chinese government has not once stopped its persecution of ERCC.”
“Ever since the 1209 crackdown in 2018, local authorities have continued to monitor and harass ERCC members, with the hope that the church will disperse itself. In a time when the Chinese people are suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic, the heartless regime chose to inflict more trouble on its citizens. The UN should immediately suspend China’s appointment to the Human Rights Council for its lack of respect for human rights,” Gina Goh said.
