Pastor Xu Rongzhang

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Officials declare singing worship song illegal

    Authorities in China’s central Henan province declared singing a Christian song illegal on Saturday and detained a Taiwanese pastor.

Police took Pastor Xu Rongzhang into custody on April 15, after he was found leading a Christian concert. Xu had previously rented the space at a karaoke location in Zhengzhou, Henan for the event.

While Xu led the congregation in singing “Jesus Loves You,” a Chinese worship song, authorities entered the facility, claiming they needed to check the firefighting equipment and gathered everyone present and took them to the police station.

The Christians were accused of illegal religious activities, and the song they were singing was deemed against the law.

Xu said he was interrogated for several hours and had travel documents and phone confiscated. They were returned to him on April 17, despite the fact that he was released the same day he was taken in.

The police termed the treatment of Xu and the others “lenient” and forced the Christians to compose penitent statements promising never to organize large-scale gatherings again. Xu was warned not to hold services for more than 10 people at a time.