According to reports from persecution watchdog ChinaAid, authorities in Kaili City, in Guizhou Province, detained five men and a woman. The group is facing charges including fraud and accusations of “organising minors to engage in activities undermining public order”. 

Sources familiar with the case said the allegations are largely connected to normal church practices, including the running of children's Sunday school classes.

Bob Fu, founder and president of ChinaAid, described the arrests as a serious development in China's treatment of religious groups.

He said: “Criminalising Sunday school and the peaceful sharing of faith with children is an outrageous abuse of law and a direct assault on the fundamental rights of parents and churches.”

Legal experts within China have reportedly raised concerns over both the nature of the charges and the way the case has been handled.

Under Chinese law, the offence of “organising minors to engage in activities undermining public order” has traditionally been linked to conduct such as fighting, theft or actions considered threats to social stability. 

Further concerns have also emerged over due process. Family members are said to have quickly secured legal representation, but reports suggest prosecutors approved the arrests without fully hearing legal arguments from defence lawyers.

Fu described the developments as a “shocking new phase” in the persecution of religious minorities.

“We call on the international community, democratic governments, and human rights organizations to closely monitor this case,” Fu said. “In the public square, let us speak out against an evil system violently oppressing people of faith. And let us remember in prayer our brothers and sisters who are imprisoned, as if we were with them.”

China is number 17 on the Open Doors World Watch List, which ranks the countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution.