Police raid on church in south-west China is the latest incident in a widespread crackdown on Christians
(BANGKOK, June 19, 2026)—The Chinese authorities should immediately cease their campaign of harassment and persecution of Christian worshippers exercising their basic human right to freedom of religion or belief, and release those who have been arbitrarily or unjustly arrested and detained, Fortify Rights said today.
On June 14, 2026, Chinese police conducted a large-scale raid of Early Rain Covenant Church in Jiangyou City, 100 miles north-east of Chengdu, Sichuan Province, during a Sunday worship service held in a hotel ballroom, and detained dozens of members of the congregation. At least two church leaders, Yan Hong and Wu Wuqing, reportedly remain in custody, having been sentenced to 15 and 14 days administrative detention respectively.
“This renewed crackdown against Early Rain Covenant Church is the latest incident in an intensifying nationwide crackdown by the Chinese Communist Party on religion generally, and Christians in particular,” said Benedict Rogers, Senior Director at Fortify Rights. “The international community must press the Chinese authorities to immediately and unconditionally release elders Yan Hong and Wu Wuqing, cease this campaign of persecution against Christians, and uphold freedom of religion or belief for everyone in China.”
According to a statement by Early Rain Covenant Church, released by China Aid, between 60 to 70 government personnel—including officers from the police, the Special Weapons and Tactical Unit), the Domestic Security Protection Unit, the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau, and local township officials – stormed the venue at approximately 11 a.m. on June 14 and detained 33 members of the congregation. The detainees were held in a detention facility in Jiangyou for interrogation, but all except elders Wu and Yan were released eventually between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. The remaining church members, including children and the elderly, who were not taken in for questioning were held in the ballroom, where some were reportedly pressured to sign an affidavit in exchange for their release, although the authorities refused to disclose the contents of the document to them. By 6 p.m., all had been released, and most church members had refused to sign.
Early Rain Covenant Church was founded in 2008 in Chengdu, and has been a target for the Chinese authorities for many years. The founder, Pastor Wang Yi, was arrested in a raid in December 2018 and is serving a nine-year prison term for “inciting subversion of state power” and “illegal business operations.”
The crackdown on Early Rain Covenant Church is the latest in a series of attacks on independent Christian churches in China in an escalating campaign of repression by the Chinese Communist Party. On January 4, the Yayang Church, near Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, was targeted by special police forces who surrounded the building, brought in equipment including cranes and bulldozers, and removed the cross. The Yayang Church – which is a central place of worship for a network of 12 independent house churches in the area – was previously raided by more than 1,000 police in December 2025. Several hundred worshippers were detained. In October last year, almost 30 leaders of one of China’s biggest unregistered Protestant churches, Zion Church, were arrested across seven cities. Its founder Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri remains in custody and Fortify Rights has been supporting Grace Jin Drexel, his daughter to advocate for his release.
“The Chinese regime is intensifying its assault on freedom of religion or belief,” said Benedict Rogers. “The persecution of Christians and Falun Gong practitioners, and grave atrocity crimes against Tibetan Buddhists and Uyghur Muslims, make the Chinese Communist Party one of the world’s most egregious human rights violators. The perpetrators of these serious violations should be held accountable.”
Photo credit: ©ChinaAid, 2026