Wang Xiaofei and Li Shanshan harassed by local police during visit to Fuyang Maizhong Reformed Church

(Fuyang, Anhui Province – May 9, 2024) On the morning of May 2, 2024, Wang Xiaofei, wife of Pastor Yang Xibo from Xunsiding Church in Xiamen, and Li Shanshan, wife of Pastor Li Jie from Covenant House Church in Linfen, brought their children to Fuyang, Anhui Province to visit Pastor Zhang Sen and Elder Chang Shun of Fuyang Maizhong Reformed Church. They had lunch together and exchanged ideas. In the afternoon, Li Shanshan and her two children, Pastor Zhang Sen, and Elder Chang Shun were separately taken away for questioning by the police from the Yingdong Branch of Fuyang Public Security Bureau.

Pastor Zhang Sen and Elder Chang Shun had been recently administratively detained for their Christian faith but were recently released after completing their detention.

Around 5:00 pm, the police forcibly opened the door to the hotel room where Wang Xiaofei and her children were staying. The police also wanted to take Wang Xiaofei to the police station for questioning to understand the situation, asking them what they came here for and who they met. Because the children were crying, Wang Xiaofei was not immediately taken away. The police said they would come back later to take her to the police station. After the children stopped crying, Wang Xiaofei went to the police station on her own initiative. Li Shanshan did not return to the hotel until 8:30 pm. When they left, Pastor Zhang Sen and Elder Chang Shun were still inside the police station making records. The two pastors did not return home until after 9:00 pm.

Fuyang Maizhong Reformed Church is a house church in Fuyang City, Anhui Province. The church leaders participated in the signing of the “A joint statement by Pastors: A Declaration for the sake of the Christian Faith ” initiated by Pastor Wang Yi in 2018. They insisted on the house church stance and publicly refused to join the Three-Self Church. As the government cracked down on house churches, Fuyang Maizhong Reformed Church was raided many times and banned by the government in 2023. After the ban, the church members persisted in prayer and study in small groups, which were also raided many times, with pastors, preachers, and believers being taken to the police station multiple times. Relevant police officers from the Fuyang Public Security Bureau claimed to focus on cracking down on Maizhong Reformed Church, stating that as long as two or three people gathered, they would be detained once caught. From the fall of 2023 to the spring of 2024, Elder Chang Shun was detained three times for attending the church’s Sunday services. On Sunday, March 10 of this year, the police arrested nine Christians, including Elder Chang Shun, and imposed a penalty of 13 days of administrative detention on them. On the morning of March 24, when they were released, Pastor Zhang Sen and the church’s Christians went to the Fuyang Detention Center to welcome them and led everyone in prayer outside the detention center. Because of this, Pastor Zhang Sen was accused of “organizing illegal assembly” by the police and was taken away by the Quanying Police Station of the Yingquan Branch of Fuyang Public Security Bureau on March 28, and subsequently administratively detained for 15 days.

When a church is persecuted for adhering to its faith, other churches will send Christians to visit, comfort, and encourage them. This time, Wang Xiaofei and Li Shanshan went to Fuyang to uphold this good tradition of house churches. Although the churches they belong to are also being persecuted – Xunsiding Church in Xiamen, where Wang Xiaofei belongs. Wang Xiaofei and her husband Pastor Yang Xibo were fined ￥200,000 yuan (~28,280 U.S. dollars) by Xiamen Religious Affairs Bureau for insisting on gathering after being banned; Covenant House Church in Linfen, where Li Shanshan belongs, has had its Pastors Li Jie and Han Xiaodong and co-worker Wang Qiang criminally detained by local police for more than 1 year and 7 months on charges of “fraud”.

In her Weibo post on May 3, Li Shanshan revealed that the day before, it was her and her two children’s first time in Fuyang, Anhui Province. They had planned to take the children to enjoy the China rose flowers all over the streets and the city scenery, but suddenly a group of police officers rushed into the room, demanded her cooperation, took out summons and search warrants, forcibly searched her bags and body, and tried to grab her phone. The police also charged her with a crime: suspected of “colluding with banned church organizations”, calling Li Shanshan a suspect and taking her and her children to the police station. At the police station, the police said at one point that Li Shanshan was a suspect, and at another that she was a witness. During this time, her lawyer called her and told her not to be afraid, telling her that many Christians were praying for her and her children, which helped her overcome her fear. She said she would take her children to Fuyang again to see the China rose flowers.