Beijing steps up crackdown on churches

China is stepping up its crackdown on underground churches, with police raiding a Bible class in Guangzhou.

China is stepping up its crackdown on underground churches, with police raiding a Bible class in Guangzhou on the weekend and confiscating more than 4000 books.

The move is the latest action against unofficial church groups. All groups must now be registered with the government following amendments to Beijing’s ­Relig­ious Affairs Regulation, which was introduced earlier this year.

The amendment gives local authorities greater powers to act against church groups and ­impose tougher penalties for unauthorised ­religious gatherings.

More than 60 police and governm­ent officials interrupted classes at Guangzhou’s Rongguili Church, which was founded in 1978 by an underground religious leader, the late Samuel Lamb Xiang­ao, and attracts thousands of worshippers each week. It was the third prominent Protestant church to be closed by Chinese authorities in recent months.

Chinese authorities closed the 1500-member Zion Church in Beijing in September and the 500-member Early Rain Coven­ant Church in the southwestern city of Chengdu last week.

Pastor Wang Yi, who runs the independent Early Rain church in Chengdu, was detained more than a week ago along with his wife, Jiang Rong, and more than 100 members of his congregation.

Mr Wang and at least 10 other senior members of the church are still detained, accused of “inciting the subversion of state power”, according to a statement by the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

The charges could result in imprisonment of as much as 15 years.

While most of China’s Protestant churches operate underground, the Early Rain congre­ga­tion has been openly practising its faith, including posting sermons online and evangelising in the streets.

It has about 500 followers, and holds more than a dozen meetings across the city, attracting more than 800 worshippers to those meetings each week, accord­ing to church leaders.

The South China Morning Post reported yesterday that members of the Early Rain church held outdoo­r gatherings in Chengdu on Sunday.

Human Rights Watch has called on Chinese authorities to release Mr Wang and allow church members to resume worshi­p.

“The shutdown of a Protestant church in Chengdu epitomises Xi Jinping government’s relentless assault on religious freedom in China,” Yaqui Wang, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

While religion is officially ­allowed in China, is it banned for Communist Party members.

China has also introduced rules requiring religious groups and not-for-profit groups to be registered with the government.

But the process involves strict surveillance by authorities and restrictions on what can be advocate­d during church services and gatherings.