Beijing house-church pastor and seven co-workers held on suspicion of "fraud," his wife says

Pastor Zhou Zixun (legal name Cui Xianfeng) of Beijing Jiaquan Church and seven co-workers are being held in criminal detention on suspicion of fraud. That is according to an open prayer letter from his wife, Cui Jinyoung, a South Korean citizen, which was released through the U.S.-based advocacy group ChinaAid and reported by Radio Free Asia (RFA) Mandarin on Oct. 1. FWB has not seen an official detention notice or any comment from Chinese authorities. ChinaAid says the government's factual basis for the suspected offence is unknown.

Cui writes that at about 5:50 p.m. on Sept. 4, more than 100 police officers, some in plain clothes, surrounded about 50 church members. They were setting up a hotel conference room for the church's 20th-anniversary celebration the next day. Members were made to give their ID numbers, addresses and phone numbers, and most were sent home. Seven people were detained at the scene. RFA reports, citing the letter, that Zhou was not there and was summoned to a police station at the same time. Several days later two of those detained were released, and two other church leaders were detained. According to the letter, eight people remained in criminal detention as of Sept. 28. The co-workers have not been named.

Cui argues the fraud allegation stems from the church being unregistered and from authorities' scrutiny of its offerings. She asked for prayer for detainees with chronic illnesses who she says were taken without their medicine. A church member who asked to be identified only as Mr. Wang told RFA that lawyers had been retained and had asked to meet the detainees. Cui told RFA on Oct. 1 that she could not give interviews while the detentions continue. She says she has been unable to enter China for about three years after her visa was refused.

Zhou and Cui founded the church in 2006 after studying in the United States. ChinaAid describes it as an urban house-church network with gathering points in several Chinese cities. ChinaAid's president, Bob Fu, called for the detainees' release unless authorities can present evidence of a crime through a transparent legal process.