A pastor at a Beijing underground church has been arrested, his wife says

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A pastor of a house church in Beijing has been arrested, his wife told The Associated Press this week, as China intensifies its crackdown on unregistered churches.

Pastor Xianfeng Edward Cui, who founded Beijing Jiaquan Church, was arrested on Oct. 23 on charges of fraud, said his wife, Jin Young Gu, who lives outside of China.

Cui was first detained on Sept. 4 as part of a raid on his church that involved around 100 police officers, Gu said.

Gu said the fraud allegations are related to church members’ offerings. Such charges are likely related to the fact that the church is unregistered.

Police in Beijing’s Shijingshan district did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not answer questions about the pastor sent via a messaging app.

Cui's arrest is the latest case in Chinese President Xi Jinping's long-running campaign to tighten control over religion to ensure all groups of faith abide by Communist Party rule.

In one of the biggest crackdowns on religious activity in recent years, authorities in October 2025 arrested 30 leaders of Zion Church, one of the country’s largest underground church networks, following overnight raids in several cities.

Among those arrested was church founder Jin Mingri. He was freed in July following a personal request by U.S. President Donald Trump to Xi during Trump’s visit to Beijing.

Beijing Jiaquan Church was founded in 2006 and had grown in size as an unregistered congregation, Gu said.

By 2019, authorities sealed off the group's worship facility in Beijing, forcing the congregation to meet in smaller groups and at different locations, Gu said.

In 2023, authorities interrupted a Sunday church class to warn Gu and Cui that their church had become too large, Gu said.

“They told him that he should lead only one church with fewer than 100 people,” Gu said. “This was a direct warning from the authorities concerning the size and organization of our church.”

Gu, a Korean national, said she’s been denied a visa since 2023 to return to China as a family member.

Tang reported from Washington.