TAIYUAN, September 29, 2026 — Police detained house-church preacher An Yankui (安彦魁) at his residence on Tuesday morning after summoning him for investigation on suspicion of “organizing illegal religious activities,” according to Taiyuan Xuncheng Reformed Church and a police document reviewed by the advocacy group ChinaAid.
Officers from the Taiyuan Public Security Bureau took An into custody at approximately 10:30 a.m. on September 29, the church said. A summons issued by the Taiyuan Municipal Public Security Bureau names An and states that he is suspected of “organizing illegal religious activities,” directing him to report to the bureau’s law-enforcement case-handling center for questioning. International Christian Concern independently reported the detention on October 2, citing the same police record presented at the time of the arrest.
The document cites Article 96 of China’s Public Security Administration Punishments Law, a procedural provision governing police summonses for investigation. An’s precise detention status and how long authorities intend to hold him were not immediately clear when the reports were published.
The detention took place in Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi Province. Taiyuan Xuncheng Reformed Church is an unregistered Protestant congregation operating outside China’s state-sanctioned Three-Self church system, and An is its preacher.
An has faced the same allegation before. On December 31, 2020, police from Taiyuan’s Xiaodian District detained him for 15 days for “organizing illegal religious activities” and fined him 1,000 yuan, according to previous ChinaAid reporting. After a Sunday worship service on November 21, 2021, the Fenyang Public Security Bureau criminally detained An and church coworker Zhang Chenghao on suspicion of “illegally crossing the national border” following their attendance at a Christian conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; authorities formally arrested them the following month. A Fenyang City People’s Court verdict issued November 3, 2022 sentenced An to one year in prison and fined him 5,000 yuan; both men completed their sentences on November 21, 2022. An was again among 11 Xuncheng Reformed Church members placed in administrative detention after police raided an October 12, 2025 Sunday worship service; all 11 were released on October 28 after serving 15 days.
The action extends a pattern of enforcement against prominent unregistered churches that has intensified over the past year. In Beijing, eight Jiaquan Church members remain in criminal detention on suspicion of fraud following a September 4 raid (Free China Movement coverage), while eight Zion Church pastors and leaders remain detained awaiting trial in Beihai (Free China Movement coverage). In Chengdu, members of the Early Rain Covenant Church have faced repeated detentions this year (Free China Movement coverage).
An’s current whereabouts and the legal basis for any continued detention remain unconfirmed at publication. This story will be updated as further information becomes available.
Update, October 14, 2026
An’s detention status is now clearer than it was at publication. On September 30, 2026, the Chinese human-rights information outlet Weiquanwang reported that An had been placed under 15 days of administrative detention for “organizing illegal religious activities” following his September 29 summons, according to a report by the outlet chinafocus.news. The report describes the move as a change in procedural status — from the Article 96 police summons documented by ChinaAid to administrative detention.
The administrative detention decision itself has not been publicly produced, and the exact start date of the term was not specified in the available reporting. This update answers the question this story left open at publication — how long authorities intend to hold An — while noting that the detention length and legal basis rest on the reported sources, not an official document. An’s current status will continue to be updated as further information becomes available.
Sources
- ChinaAid: “Preacher in northern China detained on suspicion of ‘organizing illegal religious activities’” (September 29, 2026)
- International Christian Concern: “Chinese Pastor Detained for ‘Organizing Illegal Religious Activities’” (October 2, 2026)
- Christian Post: “China detains pastor for ‘illegal religious activities’” (October 5, 2026)
- chinafocus.news: “太原家庭教会传道人安彦魁被行政拘留15天：宗教活动管理边界再成焦点” (September 30, 2026, reporting Weiquanwang’s account)
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Update — October 20, 2026: Reported Return Home
ChinaAid reported on October 20, 2026 that An Yankui returned home on October 14 after 15 days of administrative detention. Taiyuan police had taken him from his residence on September 29 on suspicion of “organizing illegal religious activities,” as reported above.
Verification status: SOURCE CLAIM — the return home is reported by ChinaAid (October 20, 2026), which has reported directly on the Xuncheng Reformed Church case throughout. The September 29 detention and the 15-day administrative-detention term were independently corroborated by International Christian Concern (October 2), the Christian Post (October 5) and Weiquanwang reporting (September 30, via chinafocus.news). No second outlet had independently reported the October 14 return home at the time of this update, and Free China Movement does not describe any post-release conditions, which have not been reported.
Source: ChinaAid, “House church preacher released after latest detention in northern China” (October 20, 2026): https://chinaaid.org/news/house-church-preacher-released-after-latest-detention-in-northern-china/