Nine people were detained on Tuesday after police raided their homes and the church office in Chengdu, the Early Rain Covenant Church said. Five of them had been released by Wednesday.
More than 1,000 miles away in Wenzhou, authorities began demolishing the Yayang Church building, as seen in video obtained by the non-profit ChinaAid, which monitors religious persecution.
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 there are 44 million Christians in the country, but it’s unclear if that number includes those who attend the many underground churches.
The 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, while in the past, these individuals would first be warned, then fined and finally detained if they still refuse to comply with orders.
