Beijing, China, Jan 15, 2019 / 14:01 pm
A campaign by the Chinese government to 'Sinicize' religion is ongoing, with detention and indoctrination of Muslims in the far west of the country, and the closing of underground churches to the east.
In early December, Wang Yi and more than 100 members of his congregation were detained in Sichuan province. Some were released the next day, but then put under house arrest.
The Observer, a sister paper to The Guardian, reported Jan. 13 that Wang's ecclesial community, Early Rain Covenant Church, has now been closed, and that Wang and his wife remain in detention, charged with inciting subversion. Some members of the community are in hiding, some have been effectively exiled from the Sichuanese capital, and others are under surveillance.
The building rented by Early Rain Covenant Church has new tenants, and police turn away those looking for the church.