Three leaders of an unregistered Christian house church in Xi’an city in central China have been arrested by communist authorities and detained on fraud charges, reigniting concerns over religious freedom in China.

Pastor Lian Xuliang, Pastor Lian Changnian and church member Fu Juan were taken into custody last Sunday by the First Branch of the Xi’an Municipal Public Security Bureau, according to the watchdog organization ChinaAid.

The arrests were approved by the Baqiao District Court, and the three are currently held at the Weiyang District Detention Center, the group added.

The arrests mark a repeat of legal action against the same individuals, who were previously detained on similar fraud charges on Aug. 17, 2022. They were held for nearly three years before being released on bail in April 2025.

Pastor Lian Changnian, who is 71 years old, had been receiving hospital care for declining health before being taken into custody again earlier this month.

“This case was tried on July 9, 2025, and no verdict has yet been issued,” the Church of Abundance, where the three serve, said in a statement last week. “What is shocking is that while awaiting the verdict, the authorities took the three individuals away again and detained them.”

The church, also known as Fengsheng Church, was founded approximately 30 years ago and was officially banned in August 2022 by the Xi’an Civil Affairs Bureau on the grounds that it was an “illegal social organization,” according to ChinaAid. It is one of several unregistered Protestant churches in China that have come under increased government scrutiny following President Xi Jinping’s December 2021 directive for greater control over religious groups.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has noted that the original August 2022 arrests were part of a larger campaign targeting unregistered churches. Along with the fraud charges, Chinese authorities also accused the three individuals of “endangering national security.”

During a six-month period of residential surveillance that followed, Pastor Lian was reportedly tortured before being transferred to a detention center and criminally charged with fraud in March 2023, according to USCIRF.

House churches often collect voluntary offerings and tithes, and authorities have used this standard practice to support fraud accusations, ChinaAid reports.

In the current case against the Church of Abundance leaders, the prosecution is reportedly relying on the testimony of Qin Wen, who was identified as a victim of fraud.

However,  ChinaAid reports she has publicly denied suffering any harm and said she was coerced into testifying. Qin has since retained legal counsel in an effort to clear the names of the accused.

In 2022, the church was accused of collecting illegal donations and labeled a cult by local authorities, according to Morning Star News.

Church members have also reported physical abuse by police. The wife of Pastor Lian told ChinaAid that her husband showed visible injuries after being beaten during arrest. “His eyes were bloodshot, and there was dried blood in the corner of his eyes,” she said. “His arms and hands were bruised and swollen.”

Bitter Winter, a religious freedom watchdog based in Italy, reported at the time that the closure was part of a nationwide strategy aimed at forcing Protestant churches to join the state-run Three-Self Patriotic Movement.

Last month, prominant underground church Pastor Jin Mingri, whose children are American citizens and is himself a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary in California, was detained on Friday at his home in Beihai, Guangxi Province. Around the same time, nearly 30 other leaders and members of Zion Church were either arrested or reported missing from multiple cities.

The arrests drew condemnation from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. 

“This crackdown further demonstrates how the [Chinese Communist Party] exercises hostility towards Christians who reject Party interference in their faith and choose to worship at unregistered house churches,” Rubio said in a statement.