Christians arrested in China crackdown

Authorities have increased arrests of Christians operating outside China's sole official government church as a the result of a crackdown ordered last month, an overseas monitoring group reported on August 24. At least 15 leaders in the unofficial church have been detained in recent days across six provinces and regions, according to the China Aid Association, based in Midland, Texas. They include seven church leaders arrested during a worship service in Inner Mongolia on August 21, and six others detained for up to 10 days in the neighboring provinces of Shandong and Jiangsu. In another case, Christian businessman Zhou Heng was arrested while picking up an order of 2 tons of Bibles at a bus station, the association said. Those actions follow a crackdown on unauthorized religious activity ordered July 5 as part of a drive against crime and economic chaos at the village level. "Strike hard against illegal religious and evil cult activity; eliminate elements that affect the stability of village governance," said the directive.