Authorities in Beijing arrested Xianfeng Edward Cui, the pastor and founder of Beijing Jiaquan Church, on Oct. 23, 2026. According to his wife, Jin Young Gu, Cui was charged with fraud following his initial detention on Sept. 4, 2026. The detention occurred during a raid involving approximately 100 police officers at the house church.
The Beijing Jiaquan Church was established in 2006 as an unregistered congregation. In 2019, Chinese authorities sealed the group’s primary worship facility, which forced members to meet in smaller groups across different locations. Gu reported that in 2023, officials interrupted a Sunday class to warn the couple that the church had grown too large, instructing Cui to lead only one church with fewer than 100 members.
Gu, a South Korean national who lives outside of China, stated that the fraud charges are related to offerings collected from church members. She noted that such allegations are likely related to the church's status as an unregistered entity. Police in Beijing's Shijingshan district and the Chinese Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for comment regarding the arrest.
The scale of these actions extends beyond a single congregation. In October 2025, authorities arrested 30 leaders from the Zion Church, one of the largest underground networks in the country. According to the AP, this indicates a pattern of enforcement targeting the leadership of religious organizations to ensure they abide by Communist Party rules. For families of those involved, like Gu, the impact includes long-term separation; she reported being denied a visa to return to China to visit her husband since 2023.
What happens next depends on the Chinese legal system's processing of the fraud charges. The case follows a precedent where international diplomacy has played a role; for example, Zion Church founder Jin Mingri was released in July 2026 after U.S. President Donald Trump made a request to President Xi Jinping. However, no specific court dates or deadlines for Cui's trial have been reported at this time.