Raid leads to arrest of Chinese church leader

SHANGHAI, China — Police arrested a leader in China’s underground Christian church May 9 after raiding a church festival attended by thousands of people, according to The Associated Press.

Zhao Wenquan was arrested in the village of Hegou after more than 4,000 people attended the festival, a crowd 10 times larger than at most church gatherings, the U.S.-based China Aid Association reported. Zhao, who is over 60, likely faces years in a labor camp.

The arrest comes as part of an ongoing campaign by China’s communist government to clamp down on religious groups operating outside their control. Over the past year, scores of church leaders have been detained and church meeting places demolished. Activists working to expose the crackdown have been put on trial for revealing state secrets.

Zhao was charged with disturbing social order and organizing an illegal religious gathering, China Aid said. Another dozen leaders in Zhao’s church are in hiding, the group reported. The group said Zhao is being held in the jail at Mengcheng County, which includes Hegou, and will likely be given a term of three years in a labor camp.

Zhao’s church is one of hundreds of evangelical Christian groups that face harassment for rejecting the authority of the Communist Party-controlled Protestant church. China claims to have more than 14 million Christians worshiping in its official churches, but monitoring groups say as many as twice that number belong to independent churches, according to AP.