Chinese police raid underground church
-02/03/06

Chinese police held 36 people in a raid on a bible school run by an underground Protestant church yesterday amid a nationwide crackdown on Christians worshipping outside Communist Party control.

About 50 officers armed with electric cattle prods and backed by more than 10 police vehicles surrounded the school in the eastern province of Anhui, according to the China Aid Association, based in Texas.

Those inside — including students, teachers, and leaders of the underground church — were taken away in police vans, the group said. The school’s owner, Chu Huaiting, was later arrested at his home, the association said.

It identified Chu as vice president of the Chinese House Church Alliance, which unites about 300,000 worshippers in unofficial congregations. The rest