Fifteen Christians attending a Bible study in China's southwestern Sichuan Province were recently detained by twenty police officers and forced to remain in custody for over two weeks.



According to persecution watchdog China Aid, authorities broke into a church in mid-March and accused the Christians attending a Bible study of illegally gathering and "gathering a crowd to disturb public order." In addition to detaining the Christians for 15 days, police confiscated church seating, projectors, and air conditioning equipment.



China Aid reports another local house church, Langzhong Church, was also targeted by authortiies. Pastor Li Ming told the outlet that over the past several Christmases, authorities seized Christians who worshipped at the church because they refused to meet at the official Three-Self Church. As reported, Three-Self churches report to the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, which reports to the State Administration for Religious Affairs, which is in turn controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.



Last year, one church member, a woman surnamed Liang, was detained for 15 days, and all of the church's property was taken away.

