Taiyuan Xuncheng Reformed Church preacher An Yankui taken away on September 29; given 15-day administrative detention for 'organizing illegal religious activities'

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According to a September 30 report by the rights group Human Rights Campaign in Chinese, An Yankui, preacher of the Taiyuan Xuncheng Reformed Church in Shanxi, was taken from his home by the Taiyuan Public Security Bureau on the morning of September 29; the next day his wife was told by phone that An had been placed under 15-day administrative detention for 'organizing illegal religious activities'. The US religious-freedom advocacy group International Christian Concern (October 2) and The Christian Post (October 5) independently reported the same incident, saying the summons record cited Article 96 of the Public Security Administration Punishments Law. An has been punished repeatedly for religious activities before: criminally detained in 2021 for 'illegal border crossing' and sentenced in 2022 by the Fenyang City Court to one year in prison.

Why it matters

This is another documented case of a house-church preacher placed under administrative detention since the October 2025 Zion Church crackdown: the same person punished twice (2020 and 2026) with 15-day administrative detention on the same allegation ('organizing illegal religious activities'), suggesting the measure has become a routine tool against unregistered churches. The specific unlawful acts behind the 'organizing illegal religious activities' allegation and the evidence held by police have not been disclosed in any public source; the four outlets' accounts corroborate one another but remain one-sided reporting by advocacy and news organisations, which this site has not independently verified — hence the 'under ongoing verification' grading.

Full report

Update (October 21, 2026): ChinaAid reported on October 20 that An Yankui returned home on October 14 after completing 15 days of administrative detention, and has gone home to recuperate. This round of detention began when Taiyuan police took him from his residence on September 29 on suspicion of 'organizing illegal religious activities.' The article also recaps his history of pressure: in December 2020 he was detained 15 days on the same allegation and fined 1,000 yuan; in November 2021, after attending a Christian conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, he was detained on suspicion of illegally crossing the national border, formally arrested the following month, and sentenced to one year in prison by the Fenyang City People's Court in November 2022; on October 12, 2025, he was among 11 church members detained after police raided a Sunday worship service, all released October 28 after serving their terms. ChinaAid says his case reflects broader international concerns about religious freedom in China, particularly the pressure faced by house churches worshipping independently of state control. [5]

According to a September 30 report by Human Rights Campaign in Chinese, An Yankui, preacher of the Taiyuan Xuncheng Reformed Church, was taken from his home by the Taiyuan Public Security Bureau on the morning of September 29; on September 30 his wife received a phone call from police informing her that An had been placed under 15-day administrative detention for 'organizing illegal religious activities'. Xuncheng Church is a house church outside the official Three-Self system. On that timeline, the detention would run until around October 14. [1][2]

The US religious-freedom advocacy group International Christian Concern (ICC) independently reported the same incident on October 2: An was taken from his home at 10:30 a.m. on September 29, and the summons record presented at the time cited 'organizing illegal religious activities' and invoked Article 96 of the Public Security Administration Punishments Law (which requires police to inform a summoned person of the reason and legal basis). The Christian Post (October 5) and Baptist News Global (October 6) followed up with consistent accounts. [3][4][5]

An has been punished repeatedly for religious activities before: in 2020 he was administratively detained for 15 days and fined on the same allegation ('organizing illegal religious activities'); in 2021 he was criminally detained for 'illegal border crossing' after attending a Christian conference in Malaysia with church members, and in 2022 the Fenyang City Court in Shanxi sentenced him to one year in prison plus a 5,000-yuan fine; he has since been administratively detained several more times over church activities. In October 2025, police raided Xuncheng Church during a Sunday service. [3][2]

The pressure on house churches is not limited to this case: according to ChinaAid, on September 16 officials in Guangzhou, Guangdong confiscated biblical materials from members of the Guangfu Church, another unregistered house church, accusing them of 'promoting a cult'; one believer summoned for questioning was warned that non-cooperation would lead to an investigation of the believer's children; police also forced the congregation out of its rented meeting space. [4]

Verification note: this record documents the verifiable public act — multiple organisations and outlets reporting An Yankui's administrative detention. Four sources (Human Rights Campaign in Chinese, ICC, The Christian Post, Baptist News Global) agree on the time of the seizure, the allegation and the 15-day term, corroborating one another; but the specific unlawful acts behind 'organizing illegal religious activities' and the evidence held by police have not been disclosed by any official or independent third party and cannot be independently confirmed by this site. This site will continue to follow up on the situation after the detention term expires. [1][2][3][4][5]

Primary sources

Links above point to the original publishers of the cited reports or assessments. Their conclusions are attributed in the text and do not imply that this site has independently verified every factual claim.