{"id":29407,"date":"2021-05-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/csw-yeo.1wp.site\/press\/house-church-leader-formally-arrested-on-fraud-charges-after-weeks-in-5245\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T19:02:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T18:02:22","slug":"house-church-leader-formally-arrested-on-fraud-charges-after-weeks-in-5245","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/press\/house-church-leader-formally-arrested-on-fraud-charges-after-weeks-in-5245\/","title":{"rendered":"House church leader formally arrested on fraud charges after weeks in detention"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Zhang Chunlei, an elder of Love (Ren\u2019ai) Reformed Church in Guiyang in China\u2019s southwestern Guizhou province, has been officially arrested and accused of fraud after nearly seven weeks in detention.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Zhang was first<\/a> placed under administrative detention for \u2018illegally operating as an association\u2019 on 16 March 2021. His detention followed a police raid on a Christian retreat at a privately rented property in Guiyang earlier that day. Among the participants were some members of Love Reformed Church, an unregistered Protestant church forcibly shut down by the authorities in September 2018, months after China\u2019s revised administrative regulations on religion<\/a> came into force.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The raid has proved to be the beginning of a police operation against the church. At least five church members were administratively detained; a dozen family homes were searched, with documents, computers and phones confiscated; several members have been repeatedly summoned; and many more questioned by police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 1 April, Zhang Chunlei\u2019s family received notification that he had been criminally detained \u2018on suspicion of fraud\u2019. His wife Yang Aiqing was served a criminal summons, also \u2018on suspicion of fraud\u2019, on 21 April. She was made to wear handcuffs and leg shackles while being interrogated before she was released 24 hours later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reports have emerged that the authorities formally arrested Mr Zhang \u2018on suspicion of fraud\u2019 on 1 May, the same day that China’s new administrative measures on religious clergy<\/a> came into effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chinese authorities often target Christians with political or financial charges, including \u2018inciting subversion of state power\u2019, \u2018divulging state secrets\u2019, \u2018illegal business operation\u2019, and \u2018fraud\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a prayer newsletter<\/a> dated 1 May 2021, Love Reformed Church condemned the authorities\u2019 continuous harassment and intimidation of its members as \u201cserious trampling on the Christian faith.\u201d The letter states, \u201cWe know that he [Elder Zhang] has been treated so unfairly because of his faith. The so-called charges against him for scamming brothers and sisters are simply unfounded; the \u2018suspected fraud\u2019 is outright absurd!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CSW\u2019s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: \u201cZhang Chunlei has spent over six weeks in detention on completely unfounded charges, and has now been formally arrested on fraud charges that are equally spurious. We call for his immediate and unconditional release, and for all charges against him to be dropped. We also urge the Chinese Communist Party to cease its crackdown on Love Reformed Church, as well as other religious groups across China. International engagement with China must include challenges to its flagrant violations of human rights, including the right to freedom of religion or belief, at every opportunity.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guiyang\u2019s human rights situation came into focus in 2015, when dozens of government departments in Guizhou province started to join forces to crack down on Living Stone Church<\/a> in the city. The authorities declared the church an \u2018illegal organisation\u2019, confiscated its property and funds, fined Pastor Su Tianfu and several other church members an additional 7 million yuan (approx. GBP 780,000), and arrested and sentenced its two pastors and three church members on baseless criminal charges. Hundreds of members were questioned and threatened with consequences such as dismissal, denial of schooling for their children, and disruption to normal business operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Separately, reports recently emerged<\/a> that two preachers at Zion Church<\/a>, Beijing, were detained on 28 April 2021 for \u2018illegal assembly\u2019. They were released on 6 May 2021, according to Weiquanwang, a Chinese human rights-related blog. Zion Church, one of the largest unregistered churches in Beijing, was also shut down by the authorities in September 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note to editors:<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.<\/span>This form of administrative detention is usually used as a punishment for people who violate China\u2019s Public Security Administration Punishment Law. It does not involve a court process, but individuals can be held in detention for a limited period, usually up to 15 days, and\/or issued with a fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.<\/span>Criminal detention is given to people who are suspected of committing a criminal offense under Chinese Law. The police can criminally detain an individual for up to 37 days before the prosecutor approves their arrest, but in cases involving \u2018national security\u2019 individuals can be held for up to six months, often incommunicado.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zhang Chunlei, an elder of Love (Renai) Reformed Church in Guiyang in Chinas southwestern Guizhou province, has been officially arrested and accused of fraud after nearly seven weeks in detention.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":43544,"template":"","categories":[],"regions":[131,128],"class_list":["post-29407","press","type-press","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","regions-china","regions-east-asia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/29407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/29407\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39991,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/29407\/revisions\/39991"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29407"},{"taxonomy":"regions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions?post=29407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}