DailyKenn.com — "More than a dozen of our brothers and sisters were taken away [by police]," according to an elder at a home-based church in China's Guizhou Provence.
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Like other countries, China is using the China Virus as an excuse to limit the number of individuals allowed to attend church services.
Authoritarian governments nearly always discourage or prohibit large gathering as a means to retain control over their subjects. Online gatherings, on the other hand, are more easily monitored, recorded, and controlled.
We can't help but wonder: China utilizes a social credit score system. Do church goers receive a lower credit score? Do those who violate crisis mandates punished with lowered social credit scores?
Authorities in the southwestern Chinese province of Guizhou have raided a Protestant house church, detaining at least 10 people for questioning, RFA has learned.
The raid came amid a Bible study group meeting held by the Ren'ai Reformed Church in Guizhou's provincial capital, Guiyang, on Tuesday morning.
"The Ren'ai Reformed Church was raided by officials including the civil affairs bureau and the police on the morning of March 16," a local Christian who gave only a surname, Huang, told RFA on Wednesday.
"More than a dozen of our brothers and sisters were taken away [by police]."
Huang said a church elder, Zhang Chulei, was also detained after going to the police station at around 5.00 p.m. on Tuesday to inquire after the others.
"I heard that they called him in for questioning," Huang said. "Many of them have yet to be released, including Zhang Chunlei."
Another Christian who lives in Guiyang, who gave only a surname, Li, said it had been rare for members of Protestant "house churches" to meet in person since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
"Lately it has been mostly online meetings, with no offline gatherings," Li said. "Offline gatherings are restricted."