Is this real?': wife of detained pastor describes anguish as China cracks down on unofficial churches

"The knocks came at 2am. Hiding out at a friend's house in a Beijing suburb, Gao Yingjia and his wife, Geng Pengpeng, rushed downstairs to meet the group of plain-clothed men who said they were police officers. Their son, nearly six, was sleeping upstairs, and Gao and Geng wanted to minimise the ruckus. They knew their time was up. Two months later, Gao is in a detention centre in Guangxi province, southern China, charged with illegal use of information networks."

"His arrest was part of the biggest crackdown on Christians in China since 2018. It has prompted alarm from the US government and human rights groups, with some analysts describing it as the death knell for unofficial churches in China. We both knew that as Christians in China, there were risks, said Geng, who fled overseas for safety with her son. But to be honest, you can never be fully prepared."

"Gao is a senior pastor in Zion Church, one of China's most prominent underground house churches with thousands of members across the country. His arrest, and those of more than a dozen other church leaders, came after months of increasing pressure on the network. But the crackdown has not been limited to Zion, prompting fears of a nationwide assault on Chinese Christians."

Plain-clothed officers arrested Gao Yingjia, a senior pastor of Zion Church, after raiding his friend's house where he and his wife were hiding with their young son. Gao is detained in Guangxi on charges of illegal use of information networks. The arrests form part of the biggest crackdown on Christians in China since 2018, prompting alarm from the US government and human rights groups and drawing analysts' warnings about unofficial churches. Authorities have detained more than 100 people in Wenzhou after months of pressure related to a dispute over displaying a national flag inside a church. Geng Pengpeng fled overseas with her son and faces difficult choices about returning, remaining in Thailand, or seeking refuge elsewhere.

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