The US has called for the release of 30 leaders of one of China’s largest underground church networks [1] who were reportedly detained in overnight raids in various cities.
The Chinese Communist Party promotes atheism and tightly controls religion – still, some Christian groups are calling this the most extensive crackdown against the faith in decades.
Christians have long been pressured to join only state-sanctioned churches that are led by government-approved pastors and toe the party line.
Urging China to release the church leaders, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement on Sunday that “this crackdown further demonstrates how the CCP exercises hostility towards
Christians who reject Party interference in their faith and choose to worship at unregistered house churches”.