08/13/2021 Myanmar (International Christian Concern) – Earlier in August, officials from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) arrested Wang Minghai, Wan Hongxia, Han Xuelei, and Xie Zhifeng, four house church teachers in Wuhu, Anhui Province, and charged them with carrying out “illegal business operations.”
The teachers who were arrested all work for the same house church school. Six other teachers from the same school were also detained in a raid on May 27 of this year but were recently released on bail. Officers also confiscated personal and school items during that raid.
Since the recently modified Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Minors became effective on June 1, where CCP added two new items in the law: “Internet protection” and “government protection,” officials have escalated persecution on schools organized by house churches.
According to ChinaAid, the “government protection” section specifies that government departments can strip parents of their custodial rights if their children are not receiving compulsory state-sanctioned education.
These two new inclusions to the law have resulted in more raids and closures of house church schools and heightened hostility against Christian teachers and other house church leadership.
For interviews, please contact Addison Parker: [email protected].
