Chinese authorities arrest five pastors following demolition of their church

Chinese authorities in China's central Henan province have formally arrested five pastors following the demolition of their church last month.

China Aid reported that Henan authorities initially arrested the five pastors on May 5 during the demolition of the Shuangmiao Church, which was still under construction at the time.

The four leaders of Shuangmiao church — Huang Xiangju, Zhao Wenjing, Guo Chungai, and Lü Yuexia — along with a pastor of a neighboring church — Zhang Di — were formally arrested on June 8 after a month-long detention.

The Communist Party reportedly declared the church an "illegal structure" and ordered personnel to search the belongings of the Christians and construction workers.

Christians who opposed the demolition were reportedly beaten, and as many as 40 worshipers were detained at the time. After the church was completely razed, one church member compared the incident to the Japanese invasion of China during World War II.

The officials also damaged the church's closets, smashed the offering boxes, confiscated personal property, and stole laptops, money, and jewelry during the raid.

The authorities claimed that the demolition was punishment over the church's refusal to pay 4,000 yuan ($588 USD) annually as part of an arbitrary road usage fee imposed by villagers. However, the church members disputed the claim, saying they tried to negotiate with the officials to remedy the problem prior to the demolition.

A church member who wished to remain anonymous told China Aid that the other members attempted to construct a temporary meeting place in front of the original church, but the authorities prevented the meetings.

"We don't have any light, either. The government workers took away the electricity meter and cut off the wires," the anonymous church member said.

The authorities in Henan appear to have stepped up their efforts to enforce the government's crackdown against activities related to Christianity.

In April, officials in the province apparently declared it illegal to sing a Christian worship song. A Taiwanese pastor named Xu Rongzhang was detained on April 15 for leading a Christian concert and singing the renowned Chinese worship song "Jesus Loves You."

Xu said that the officials interrogated him for several hours and confiscated his travel documents as well as his phone. The pastor's documents and phone were only returned to him two days after he was released.

The officials also detained other Christians, accusing them of participating in illegal religious activities. Xu was warned not to conduct services for more than 10 people at a time, while the other Christians were forced to sign statements promising never to organize large-scale gatherings again.