WASHINGTON — Ding Shuqi, a pastor from the persecuted Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, China, urged the world earlier this week to remember the suffering of Chinese Christians, whose freedoms he said are being crushed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
"Today, I will show you the reality of religious persecution in China through firsthand information," Ding told the audience gathered Wednesday at the Museum of the Bible for a three-hour briefing titled "CCP Oppression in America and China." The event, which was sponsored by the Religious Freedom Institute, the International Religious Freedom Summit, ChinaAid Association and other religious freedom advocacy groups, featured an array of speakers who highlighted the CCP's escalating oppression of Christians and other religious minorities.
Noting his remarks are the first Ding has made publicly since arriving in the United States last year, ChinaAid founder Bob Fu introduced the Reformed Presbyterian pastor by saying his ministry "reflects the commitment of China's house church movement to remain faithful to biblical teaching, Christian fellowship and the Great Commission, despite restrictions and surveillance." Ding was among the more than 100 members of Early Rain Covenant Church who were rounded up and detained in December 2018 amid a wider nationwide crackdown against Chinese "house churches" that remain unregistered with the communist regime.
The CCP banned Early Rain, seized its property and charged Ding with "illegal business operations," which is commonly leveled against house church leaders. Others from the church were charged with "picking quarrels and provoking trouble," according to the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. After five months in detention, Ding was released on bail on May 7, 2019, though he and other members of Early Rain Covenant Church have continued to face surveillance and harassment from state authorities.
He was last detained in 2023 for two weeks, and founding