A Chinese court sentenced an unofficial Protestant church pastor to one year. The clergyman is in jail and was facing a case of work against the regime. According to the announcement made on the official court website, a court in southwestern Chengdu city of China also convicted Pastor Wang Yi of 'doing illegal business'.
Last year, the government took action on Wang Yi's 'Early Rain Covenant' church. Authorities detained Wang in December 2018 during the raid. During this time many members of his 'underground church' went missing. The officially atheist government of China remains vigilant about the activities of any organization outside its control. There is a branch of Protestant Christianity. It emerged as a result of the Protestant reformist movement in the sixteenth century. This religion is strongly opposed to Roman Catholicism.
Christian communities in China are divided between unofficial / underground churches and government-accredited churches. Communist party songs are also played in government-sanctioned churches. The "Early Rain Covenant" Church is one of the "underground" churches that the Chinese government closed in 2018 as an action against followers of religion, especially Islam and Christianity.
