On the same day when three Chinese Christians were sentenced to jail terms of between one and three years in the Zhejiang Province (See Chinese Court Jails Three Christians), more than 100 house church leaders were arrested in Kaifeng City, Henan Province on 6th August.

More than a hundred house church leaders were beginning a two week retreat, held at the home of Mrs Xiang Zi, the wife of one of the retreat organisers. Suddenly more than 200 military police, Public Security Bureau (PSB) and other officers surrounded the venue, without providing any arrest warrants or official identification papers. Mrs Xiang Zi was arrested along with their three children, aged between eight and eleven years.

The retreat was sponsored by the non-denominational house church network, Henan House Church. Those arrested came from various provinces, including Heilongjiang and Liaoning, as well as different areas throughout Henan in central eastern China. Amongst those arrested are the leaders Zhang Wanshun of Sanmenxia City, Mr. Zhang Tianyun of Nanyang City and Mr. Yu Guoying of Tongxu County.

A church leader from Yima County, Sanmenxia City in Henan was also arrested on his way to the retreat. He was supposed to bring copies of Christian literature, including the Christian Life Quarterly Magazine, to the retreat participants. His house was raided and significant amounts of Christian literature were confiscated.

This is the most recent in a series of mass arrests of unregistered Protestant Christians in China and is yet further proof of the increased crackdown on the house churches. The last time such an incident ocurred was when more than 100 house church leaders were arrested one month ago in Xinjiang Autonomous Region.

Stuart Windsor, National Director of CSW, said: "This is the third time we are aware of in recent months that China has arrested a large group of house church Christians simply for meeting together for their own encouragement. This is further evidence of the growing crackdown on house churches in China. CSW urges the international community to call on China to address the worsening pressure it is placing on unregistered believers and its flagrant violation of basic human rights standards."

Moreover, the Chinese government officials released a recent report estimating the Christian population at 16 million, which is far below the 80 to 100 million believers estimated by international mission agencies. Voice of the Martyrs' Nettleton explains that the government is alarmed at the rise of Christianity in China, in a communist and officially atheist nation.

"It is part of a massive misinformation campaign, by the Chinese government, about Christianity in China, about he Chinese church and about how they treat the Chinese church. The government's best interest is to say that there are few, and they're not mistreated. The truth is there are many and they are mistreated."

Nettleton commented that in fact, the government's suppression of the Gospel helps it flourish in the hardest pressed areas.

The Chinese Christians are only allowed to worship in the government-controlled 'registered' churches, also known as Three Self Church. Chinese officials deny violating religious freedoms, saying detained activists are criminals who violated Chinese law and threatened national security.