Over 200 Church members were arrested since the beginning of summer in this southeastern province; a hundred more believers were questioned by the police.
The Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau of Jiangxi issued an order on June 1 to target The Church of Almighty God (CAG). According to preliminary reports from CAG churches in the province, at least 200 of their members were arrested and over 100 were questioned at their homes from June 11 to September 30.
Additionally, nearly 150,000 RMB (or 21,000 USD) of church valuables and private assets worth 400,000 RMB (or 57,000 USD) were illegally confiscated as well.
To eliminate the church’s meeting places and arrest its congregation members, the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau ordered law enforcement agencies in every city of the province to thoroughly investigate each individual suspected of membership in the Church of Almighty God.
According to sources, the authorities also worked towards creating a database of CAG believers and church leaders, which will be used to monitor them in the future.
Reported by Lin Yijiang
