UPDATE (9 February 2026): Three of the detainees have been released: Liang Zhongyuan was released on bail on 5 February and is under surveillance at a relative’s home in Chengdu; Zhang Xinyue (wife of Elder Li Yingqiang) was released on bail on 6 February and has returned home to Deyang; and Brother Lin has also returned home after being released on bail. Elder Li Yingqiang, Pastor Dai Zhichao, Deputy Deacon Jia Xuewei and Ye Fenghua remain in Deyang Detention Centre, but police have notified Ye Fenghua’s wife that his detention may be changed to “residential surveillance at a designated location” (RSDL) and it is believed that Jia Xuewei may also be transferred to RSDL.
Lawyers have confirmed that detained Early Rain Church leader Elder Li Yingqiang and a member identified only as Brother Lin have been charged with “inciting subversion of state power”. They were among eight elders, church workers and members detained in the coordinated police raids on 6 January that marked the start of a new crackdown on Early Rain Covenant Church (ERCC) in southwest China’s Sichuan province.
Only one of the detainees – seminary student Song Haibing – has been released, on 19 January. He was administratively detained on a charge of “obstructing the law enforcement of state security organs”. The authorities have yet to return his mobile phone, computer and books, confiscated during the search of his home. Lawyers and families are still unable to obtain information regarding the reasons for the arrests of the other five detainees or the charges against them, and lawyers have not been permitted to meet with any of them.
Most of the detained Christians are known to be in either Deyang Detention Centre or Zhongjiang Detention Centre, but the location of Elder Li Yingqiang’s wife Zhang Xinyue is unknown. (The couple is pictured at the left of the photomontage.)
Members of multiple small groups detained
Since 6 January, members of multiple small groups within ERCC have been summoned by local police or community personnel and told to leave the church.
On Sunday 11 January Shu Qiong was summoned as she was getting ready to go out and was forcibly taken to a police station, where she was detained for around eight hours. Police cited two reasons: first, to prevent her attending Sunday worship; and second, that a photo she had taken of a summons notice had been posted on overseas websites.
Shu Qiong stated that keeping Sunday worship is a responsibility of the Christian faith and cited Hebrews 10v25: “Not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
She also said that if posting the summons notice caused inconvenience to those involved she was willing to apologise, but that if such actions continue she will continue to document and publish them. She said, “Each of us answers to our own master. I will do what I should do, you do what you should do, and I am willing to bear the ultimate cost and consequences.”
On 14 January the Taisheng and Wuding groups were holding Bible study gatherings when police arrived and forced those present to register their personal identification information. Some of them were warned and threatened.
On 16 January Liu Hengqi of the Taisheng group had his lease forcibly terminated by his landlord due to external pressure and was forced to move out. Another member, Lin Fangxiao, was told by her landlord that her lease would not be renewed, due to pressure from the community and building manager.
(China Aid)
Image: China Aid