August 2022

Christian author detained amid renewed crackdown on Early Rain Covenant Church

2022-08-17

On 14 August, a group of more than 50 Christians were meeting at a teahouse in the Wuhou district of Chengdu in Southwestern province of Sichuan for Sunday worship, when around 30 uniformed and plain clothes police officers raided the place. Announcing that the gathering was “illegal”, the officials locked the door and ordered everyone to produce their ID details. Xing Hongwei, known by his pen name ‘A Xin’, was taken to a local police station by force after he refused to give his details.

‘I fear they will normalise this’ – Restrictions combine to make life even more difficult for religion and belief groups in China

2022-08-01

The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound effects on the functions of nearly every religion or belief group in every country in the world over the past two years. While many have now emerged from lockdowns and measures imposed to curb the spread of the virus are being lifted in most countries, arguably some of the strictest restrictions remain in the country where the virus was first detected: China.