ICC Note: China arrests an outspoken pastor in Sichuan and prevents him and his congregation from holding a memorial service to mourn the death of more than 70,000 on the 10^th anniversary of China’s deadliest earthquake. Pastor Wang Yi from Autumn Rain Blessing Church was released on May 12 after 24 hours of detention.

05/12/2018 China (New York Times) – On the 10th anniversary of China’s deadliest earthquake in decades, the police on Saturday detained an outspoken pastor and blocked a planned service to mourn the 70,000 or more people killed when whole towns and villagers were crushed.

The anniversary of the earthquake, which rippled across Sichuan Province in southwest China on May 12, 2008, has been a time of renewed mourning for survivors, while the ruling Communist Party has used the date to praise China’s reconstruction of devastated areas.

But officials in Sichuan have sought to stifle any unapproved commemorations that could rekindle angry questions about why many new buildings, including schools, collapsed in the 7.9-magnitude quake.

On Friday night, the police detained Wang Yi, a Protestant pastor whose independent church planned to hold a memorial service on Saturday morning in Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan, his wife, Jiang Rong, said.

He was released on Saturday night after about 24 hours in detention, she said later.

The police also took away dozens of people who arrived for the planned service on Saturday morning, and they used trucks to remove publications belonging to the church, indicating that a broader move was underway against the congregation, known as the Early Rain Covenant Church.

Another church leader, Li Yingqiang, was formally held for questioning and released on Saturday night, Ms. Jiang and other supporters of the church said.

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