Ten young children, aged five to six, were detained by police while attending a Sunday School class in a private home in Fuyang City in Anhui Province in eastern China (a representative image is used here).
Five adults who were teaching the children were also held, two of whom were later placed in detention.
The incident took place on Tuesday 29 April at around 1.30pm during a regular Bible study session in the private home. According to information supplied by a church in Fuyang, police from the Modern Industrial Park Police Substation in Fuyang forcefully entered the residence, confiscated mobile phones and conducted a search. The church reported that when parents went to pick up their children, the authorities refused to let them go.
After a period of time, the children were allowed to return to their families. The church issued a prayer request stating that at least one child experienced significant psychological distress, including repeated seizures, and initially received limited medical attention from the authorities. The child was subsequently brought by family members to a medical centre for evaluation.
Two teachers detained
Two of the Sunday School teachers, Chen Fangfang and Wang Dandan, were transferred to a detention centre at approximately 1am on 30 April. Eyewitnesses at the detention centre said they appeared joyful and encouraged others. Both women said that they had not received any formal detention notices. When repeatedly asked about the duration of the detention, police officers responded, “I’m not going to tell you all.”
It was later reported that Chen Fangfang was mistreated at the detention centre – Qu Jie, the chief of the Sanshipu Police Station in Fuyang, verbally and physically abused her, including insulting, humiliating, spitting on her face, and dousing her with water.
Wang Dandan, a member of the Maizhong Reformed Church in Fuyang, was previously detained for 15 days in January 2024 for her participation in church activities.
China’s revised Regulations for Religious Affairs, which came into force on 1 February 2018, state that under-18s may not attend church. Consequently, many Christian parents send their young children to informal “Sunday School” classes held in private homes.
Maizhong Reformed Church
Maizhong Reformed Church has endured many raids by police because it is unregistered. In January 2024, it was raided while children had come together to pray and sing. Police officers from the Economic and Technological Development Zone Branch of the Fuyang Municipal Public Security Bureau detained three Christians who were leading the children, including Wang Dandan, and searched their homes. The three Christians were placed in administrative detention for fifteen days.
The church’s problems started in 2018 when its leader, Xu Fengchuan, signed a joint statement by house church pastors protesting against the Regulations on Religious Affairs that came into force earlier that year.
The church and some individual members were put under surveillance and suffered harassment for several years. Multiple police raids on church gatherings took place in 2021, 2023 and 2024.
(China Aid, Bitter Winter)
Image Credit: International Mission Board (undated representative photo of a children’s class in a government-approved church in Suzhou, China).