An influential Protestant church in China says prominent leaders have been arrested in what appears to be a growing crackdown on the underground church movement.
Nine people were detained on Tuesday after police raided their homes and the church office in Chengdu, in central China, the Early Rain Covenant Church said. Five had been released by Wednesday.
More than 1,000 miles away in Wenzhou, authorities began demolishing the Yayang Church building, video obtained by non-profit ChinaAid, which monitors religious persecution, shows.
This latest wave of arrests, after others last year, shows the Communist Party's resolve to snuff out churches that do not align with its ideology, Christian groups say.
The BBC has contacted China's embassy in the UK for comment. Authorities have not made any statements about the arrests or the demolition in Wenzhou.
China promotes atheism and controls religion. The government said in 2018 that there were 44 million Christians in the country, but it's unclear if that number includes those who attend the many underground churches.
The Communist Party has long pressured Christians to join only state-sanctioned churches led by government-approved pastors. But Christian groups say the grip has tightened noticeably, with arrests becoming more common and prompt.
At least two church leaders in China have told the BBC that authorities are swiftly arresting unauthorised church leaders. In the past, these individuals would first be warned, then fined and finally detained if they still refused to comply with orders.
Just weeks ago, Li Yingqiang, the current leader of Early Rain Covenant Church, had said he sensed a storm gathering and referred to the imminent prospect of... another large-scale crackdown.
The situation is ongoing, with specific details yet to be fully confirmed, though Li and his wife, Zhang Xinyue, remain in detention.
In Wenzhou, local authorities brought in bulldozers, cranes, and heavy machinery earlier this week to start taking down part of the Yayang Church building.
Recently, hundreds of armed and special police officers have been deployed outside the Yayang Church as the crackdown on independent church networks intensifies.
Experts point out that these actions are indicative of the central government’s determination to eliminate Christian churches that are not fully assimilated into the Communist Party's ideology, with increasing violence directed toward non-compliant groups.
