An influential Protestant church in China says prominent leaders were arrested in what appears to be a growing crackdown on the underground church movement.
Nine people were detained on Tuesday after police raided their homes and the church office in Chengdu, the Early Rain Covenant Church said. Five of them had been released by Wednesday.
More than 1,000 miles away in Wenzhou, authorities began demolishing the Yayang Church building, as seen in video obtained by the non-profit ChinaAid, which monitors religious persecution.
This latest wave of arrests, after others last year, shows the Communist Party's resolve to snuff out churches that do not align with its ideology, Christian groups say.
The BBC has contacted China's embassy in the UK for comment. Authorities have not made any statements about the arrests, or the demolition in Wenzhou.
