China imprisons church leaders on ‘unfounded’ fraud charges

Three Chinese church leaders have been sentenced to prison after being found guilty of “unfounded” charges of fraud, reports Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). 

The verdict and sentence have been condemned by supporters and church members who say the lads were simply managing the church collection and that the legal process was deeply flawed.

Pastor Li Jie, Elder Han Xiadong and Elder Wang Qiang are leaders of the Linfen Covenant Home Church in Shanxi Province. Jie and Xiadong were each sentenced to 3 years and eight months, while Qiang received a lesser sentence of 1 yr and 11 months.

Jie and Xiadong were arrested in August 2022, with Qiang being arrested in November, allegedly because he refused to offer false evidence against the opposite two.

The men were later charged with obtaining “illegal income” however the trial didn’t start until May 2025.

Xiadong and Jie’s wives, in addition to other church members, were allegedly intimidated and harassed by the authorities ahead of the trial, which was conducted in secret.

Sources for the rights group CSW claim that lawyers representing the lads were told the sentences can be lower than three years in the event that they entered the court without electronic devices, assurances that were apparently broken.

Qiang was released on bail in March 2025, although he was previously released into “Residential Surveillance in a Designated Location”, which is regarded by the UN as a type of enforced disappearance, because the suspect stays in incommunicado detention. It is believed that his shorter sentence is a mirrored image of time already served, meaning he has been released.

In an announcement the church said, “We don’t accept this unjust judgment. Our brothers didn’t commit fraud, and the offerings of our church are usually not fraud. Our church stays a house church, adhering to Christ as the only real head of the church and the principle of separation of church and state.

“We recognize that Li Jie, Han Xiaodong, and Wang Qiang are suffering for righteousness sake and are willing to take up the cross with the Lord. We receive the results of the judgment from the Lord with a heart of gratitude and obedience.”