The Chengdu police broke into the Autumn Church Family Bookshop: two were detained for 10 days and religious control extended to private parties

On the afternoon of 11 September, a family member of the Church of the Union of the Church of the Union of the Sundh in Chengdu was interrupted by the police. The Chinese human rights defender (CHRD) disclosed that over 30 police officers had been deployed to the meeting site at the police station in the Red House in the Chengdu Wu district and 11 participants had been taken away. Most were released the following day, but U.S. and Shen Xiaoqing were sentenced to 10 days of administrative detention and fined.

This law enforcement operation, which took place in family space, did not present an isolated security response, but was the latest link in the chain of control that the Chengdu authorities had maintained for many years over the Church of the Autumn Covenant. From the mass arrests in 2018 to the re-deal of church leaders with “inciting subversion of State power” in early 2026, the police have now entered the family reading fair directly, and the space for religious activities has been shrinking.

More than 30 policemen are attending the Family Reading Association

"As far as the "Ah-href" is concerned,https://www.msguancha.com/a/a/zjzykz/2026/0913/25821.html"target" = "blank" rel = "nopener noreferrer" data-linked-reference = "tru" data-reference-label = "Life Watch" , 11 September, from 3 p.m. to around 4 p.m., the members of the Mercy Corps are holding daily reading sessions, with participants, mainly seniors, reading the legal publication " Walking through suffering ". Police officers from the Red House Police Station entered the scene and 11 persons were taken to the police station; Nine were released the following morning, and Wu and Shen Xiaoqing were sentenced to 10 days of administrative detention and fined $500 and $300, respectively.

and live observation, where the field operation is organized by the relevant personnel of the Wuhou District Political Protection Brigade; During the detention period, anemia-related cerebral infarction symptoms were observed in Shaquoise and were disposed of by emergency personnel. The police also detain books that participants carry and are reading. When the administrative forces not only take away the reader but also control his reading materials and the meeting space, the law enforcement target has been extended from a specific act to the religious community itself.

From banning churches to controlling family space

The Church of the Autumn Covenant has long been under the central control of the system of governance and religious administration of the Chengdu. December 9, 2018, when the authorities arrested the church shepherds, co-workers and members of the union on a large scale; The Director, Wang Yi, was subsequently sentenced to nine years' imprisonment for “incitement to overthrow the State's power” and “illegal operation”. Public information from churches indicates that after the 2018 operation, many people were held in criminal and administrative detention and that the original premises, schools, etc. were closed.

The closure of the public hall did not, however, stop the congregation. The Church of the Autumn Rains has since moved to meet on line and below the smaller line. When religious activities are withdrawn from the regular church, the way of governance follows into the individual, family and small union.

<a href="https://wangyilibrary.com/zh/faq"target" = _blunk" rel = noopener noreferrer" da-linked-reference = true" data-reference-label = </a" January 2026, the Church of Autumn Covenant was hit by another round. The Church leader, Li Young-ghang and Dai Chio-sama, were arrested on suspicion of “incitement to overthrow the State's power”, while members of the Church were placed under designated residential surveillance. Against this background, the September action against the Mercy Corps showed that criminal justice, administrative sanctions and grass-roots policing are working in the same religious community.

Grassroots police stations become the end of religious control

The specific implementing agency that emerged from this operation is the police station of the Wuhou District Department of the Public Security of the City of Cheng City. (a) The basic police station is directly responsible for bringing people, questioning and enforcing administrative penalties, in terms of the power structure; The live information revealed by Human Life Watch is further directed towards the Wuhou District Party Party. This means that the incidents are not dealt with only by ordinary security at the community level, but rather by the involvement of the security forces.

It was also reported that the State Protection officers on the ground had also stated to their religious friends who were waiting outside the police station that “they were detained once in a single event in the Wuhou district”. If this expression is understood by disclosure, administrative detention is no longer just a punishment for a single act, but also a deterrent function that continues to block gatherings.

Thus, from the nine years of Wang Yi ' s sentence to 2026, when the church leaders were again charged with national security, to Wu Ching and Shen Xiaoqing ' s administrative detention for their book fairs, the legal instruments used in the case, although different, were of a continuing nature: the faith communities that did not accept the rule of the official system of religious organizations were considered to be the subject of governance and their space for survival was being reduced from one level to another by criminal justice, administrative detention and grass-roots policing.

The book fair on September 11th became a microcosm. Churches can be closed down and organizations banned, but State control also enters smaller meeting spaces when faith activities are moved to them. The experience of the Church of the Holy Covenant in the autumn rain, which has lasted for many years, shows that the borders controlled by Chinese religions have crossed the religious sites themselves and reached into the private life, faith and association of citizens.