China raid detains dozens of Christians

BEIJING — Dozens of Christians have been detained in a raid on a prominent Chinese church that operates outside the government’s official Protestant organization, a U.S.-based advocacy group said Monday.

At least 80 churchgoers and seminary students from the Early Rain Covenant Church were taken away in the southwestern city of Chengdu beginning Sunday night, ChinaAid said. Those detained include the church’s pastor, Wang Yi, and his wife, Jiang Rong.

China has cracked down heavily on independent church groups this year as part of a wider religious crackdown.

The government requires that Protestants worship only in churches recognized and regulated by the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. Even within that framework, the officially atheist ruling Communist Party has been seeking to rein in religious expression, including removing crosses from churches.

“The massive overnight attack against members of the independent, renowned Early Rain Covenant Church represents a major escalation of religious persecution in China,” Bob Fu, ChinaAid’s founder and president, said in a statement on the group’s website.

The crackdown shows the administration of President Xi Jinping is “deliberately making itself the enemy of universal values, such as religious freedom for all,” said Fu, who is a close friend of Wang.