Security Officials Raid House Churches and Arrest Christians in Jilin Province

Public security officials raided unregistered Protestant house churches in Jilin province in northeastern China on May 22 and detained house church members, reports the China Aid Association (CAA), a U.S.-based NGO that monitors house church Protestants. Police released most of those detained after 48 hours, but some were still in detention as of June 10. The house churches that were raided are not affiliated with any of China's major house church networks, according to the CAA. Many of the members of these churches are said to be university-affiliated intellectuals. The repression seems unusual because Jilin provincial authorities do not have a history of repression of Protestant or Catholic Christians.