Pastor Lian Changnian, his son Pastor Lian Xuliang and Preacher Fu Juan (also known as Sister Fu Juan) of Xi’an Church of Abundance were re-arrested for “fraud” on 2 November by the Xi’an Municipal Public Security Bureau. They were previously detained on fraud charges in 2022, held for two years and eight months and tried in July 2025, with no verdict announced.
The recent arrests were approved by the Baqiao District Court of Xi’an City and the three Christians are being held at the Weiyang District Detention Centre in Xi’an, capital of Shaanxi province in central China. The photos show Pastor Lian Changnian (aged 71, left) and Pastor Lian Changnian.
In a public statement released on 4 November, Xi’an Church of Abundance said: “This case was tried on July 9, 2025, and no verdict has yet been issued. What is shocking is that while awaiting the verdict, the authorities took the three individuals away again and detained them.”
Detained for two years and eight months
The three church leaders were previously detained on suspicion of fraud in a raid on the church on 17 August 2022 and placed under “residential surveillance at a designated location” – secret detention at a government-designated site, in this case a converted hotel where they were held separately in narrow rooms for six months. They were subjected to torture including starvation, beatings, forced ingestion of unidentified drugs and prolonged denial of access to the toilet, measures that China Aid describes as “all classic methods of coercive interrogation”. Their families only received news of them after they had been secretly detained for six months. A church prayer letter issued on 29 April 2024 stated that Pastor Lian Changnian had suffered severe psychological and physical abuse during his designated residential surveillance.
On 15 February 2023 the three Christians were placed in “criminal detention” on suspicion of fraud and transferred to Baqiao Detention Centre in Xi’an, where they were held under better conditions, with adequate food. The following month they were formally arrested on suspicion of fraud and in January 2024 their case entered the courts, with a sentencing recommendation of five years’ imprisonment for each.
Lian Changnian hospitalised after release on bail
The three Christians were released on bail on 12 April 2025 and went home to their families – the photo shows Lian Changnian (second from right) and Lian Xuliang (second from left) with family members. Lian Changnian needed immediate hospital treatment due to multiple health issues.
He was taken to Xi’an Mental Health Centre for evaluation and also underwent an MRI of the cervical spine. On 29 May he was diagnosed with “organic mental disorder, state of anxiety and severe fatigue of the entire brain” and the MRI results showed cervical vertebral bone hyperplasia with multiple disc herniation and oedema. The pastor was admitted to hospital on 3 June and again on 13 June due to a recurrence of severe cervical and lumbar spine conditions.
A church newsletter issued on 5 June 2025 stated that he had been subjected to intimidation, threats and abuse by the authorities and that as a result he was unable to sleep lying down for the entire two years and eight months of his detention. It said that both his physical and mental health had been “gravely damaged”. On a visit to the detention centre on 10 September 2024 Lian Changnian’s lawyer had found that his condition had severely worsened, with signs of cognitive decline and hallucinations, and he was afraid to sleep for fear he would be poisoned or strangled. His family and lawyer were extremely concerned about him and repeatedly informed the court and detention centre about his physical and mental condition, saying he was not fit to remain in detention.
Years of persecution
The Xi’an Church of Abundance, founded thirty years ago by Pastor Lian Changnian, is a prominent house church that refuses to register with the official Three-Self Patriotic Movement. It is affiliated with the China Gospel Fellowship house church network, which has long suffered government persecution and has been listed as a banned cult organisation. Many of the network’s pastors, co-workers and members have been arrested.
Pastor Lian Changnian has been imprisoned several times and on 19 August 2022 Xi’an’s Civil Affairs Bureau banned the Church of Abundance for being an “illegal social organisation”.
Fraud charges
Chinese authorities often make false accusations of fraud against leaders of unregistered house churches, based on the collection of tithes and offerings, as a way to have them imprisoned without using religious criminal charges that could arouse international scrutiny. Despite tithes and offerings being common in churches around the world, Chinese authorities in such cases claim they are coerced, despite alleged victims stating that they donated of their free will.
In the Xi’an Church of Abundance case, prosecutors used the testimony of a supposed “victim” named Qin Wen as the primary basis for the fraud allegations, although she has publicly denied being defrauded and has stated that she was coerced into making a false accusation. Qin Wen independently hired a lawyer to attempt to clear the names of the three church leaders. She has been dismissed from her kindergarten job.
When the three leaders were formally arrested on 22 March 2023, police incited church members to accuse them of fraud. China Aid reported: “Afterwards, the police continued to summon Christians from the church, using torture to coerce them into betraying and framing the pastors and abandoning their faith.” Many of those whom police identified as “victims” stated that their money had been donated to God and that they had not been defrauded by the pastors.
Commenting on the re-arrests of the three leaders, online religious liberty and human rights magazine Bitter Winter stated, “The Xi’an Church of Abundance has been targeted for its independence, theological influence, and growing congregation. The repeated detentions of its leaders appear to aim to dismantle the church’s leadership and discourage its members.”
(China Aid, Bitter Winter)
Photos: China Aid