Volkswacht Bodensee - Families of detained Chinese Christians cling to faith in legal limbo

Huanle's mother Wang Cong is a pastor at Zion Church, one of China's largest "underground" churches where some Christians choose to worship instead of government-regulated ones.

Chinese authorities detained more than 20 of Zion's members last October, including 43-year-old Wang-- one of a series of similar recent clampdowns across the country.

"My child saw everything, she cried," said Ren Zhong, Huanle's father, as he described how seven unidentified officers had entered their home in Beijing that night before he was held down.

"She was in her mother's arms, and they ripped her away."

Wang was taken along with many of her books, and her family have not spoken to her directly since.

China's constitution guarantees citizens religious freedom.

However, the ruling Communist Party, which requires its members to be atheist, has historically regarded organised religion with suspicion.

It recognises Protestantism and Catholicism as official religions, but practising organisations must register with the government -- something many Christians feel yields an unacceptable amount of control over church affairs and teachings.

Scrutiny of the country's many unofficial groups has tightened since President Xi Jinping came to power, though enforcement can vary.

Zion was forced to close in 2018, but flourished online during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Authorities detained its founding pastor Ezra Jin during the October crackdown but he was released in July, weeks after US President Donald Trump raised his case with Xi.

Wang and seven others are set to be tried in the southern Chinese coastal city of Beihai -- where Jin lived -- for fraud and illegally operating a business, criminal charges their families dispute.

"After I heard the news (of Jin's release), I was shocked and afraid to believe it," said 36-year-old Ren, also a preacher.

"But after joy came worry, worry for my wife, because she was still inside, suffering."

Asked about the detentions, China's foreign ministry said Beijing "manages religious affairs in accordance with the law".

AFP contacted the Beihai public security bureau and local detention facilities, but they said they would not accept interviews.

- 'Hard to justify' -

A single suitcase lay open on the floor when AFP visited Ren's temporary residence in Beihai.

Ren had initially hoped Jin's release might mean his wife's would soon follow.

Instead, legal proceedings quickened.

Authorities indicted Wang and the others two weeks after Jin was reunited with his family in the United States.

A trial was set for mid-August, but later postponed.

Relatives of the detainees argue they should be no longer be held now that Jin is free.

"It shouldn't be that the head pastor is fine, but people below him... are in trouble," said Gao Guangjun, the fatherof detained pastor Gao Yingjia.

"It's a little hard to justify," the elder Gao, 76, said.

According to legal documents described by Ren, the basis for Wang's detention is that her collection of church offerings was fraudulent because Zion is not registered.

Authorities say she gathered around 660,000 yuan ($98,000) between 2019 and 2025.

Ren insisted that financial giving -- used partly to pay pastors -- is part of Biblical teaching practised by Christian churches.

"If it's because of this that my wife has been charged with fraud, then I think this is actually not an accusation against my wife," he said.

"It is a denial of the Christian faith as a whole."

- Costly conviction -

Jin has been recuperating in the United States and spending time with his family, who relocated there as Zion came under pressure from authorities in 2018.

He said he feels "deep pain" knowing that colleagues were left behind.

"I am deeply conflicted, truly torn. I am free, yet in reality, I am not," the pastor told AFP.

The 57-year-old was visibly emotional as he described urging the eight detainees to have courage, in a text he had drafted for their lawyers the previous day.

"I hope that one day (their) children will understand that their parents' separation from them -- and their current detention -- is a source of honour," he said.

"For the sake of a higher conviction, they are paying a price."

At Ren's Beihai flat, Huanle danced around to imaginary music, seemingly carefree.

But Ren said there are nights when his daughter refuses to sleep and tells him she's scared.

- 'Not forgotten' -

Having stopped full-time work in May, Ren spends his days caring for Huanle and advocating for his wife -- posting case updates to an X account with a few hundred followers.

He said worry for his wife has faded, even though people convicted of fraud can face 10 years in jail.

"I believe God is just," he said. "I know God has not forgotten about these eight people."

Gao, also a Christian, hopes authorities will release his son, but acknowledged the outcome is beyond the families' control.

"It's for leaders to decide," he said. "It's not something ordinary citizens can influence."

C.Stoecklin--VB