An Yankui, preacher at Taiyuan’s Xuncheng Reformed Church, released after 15 days of administrative detention for “organizing illegal religious activities”

(Rights Defense Network Information Center report) On October 14, 2026, this website learned that on September 29, 2026, An Yankui was taken from his home by Taiyuan police and subsequently placed in administrative detention for 15 days on suspicion of “illegally organizing religious activities.” On October 14, An Yankui completed his 15-day administrative detention and was released. Because it refuses to join the official Three-Self Church, Xuncheng Reformed Church has long faced pressure from the authorities. An Yankui was previously sentenced to one year in prison for “illegally crossing the national (border) boundary” after taking part in religious activities overseas.

Profile of An Yankui: Born on November 28, 1978, he is from Xicheng Township, Wenshui County, Shanxi Province, and resides in the Pingyang Jingyuan residential community in Xiaodian District, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. He is a Christian, a clergyman of the Reformed Gospel Church, and a preacher at “Xuncheng Church” in the ancient town of Gu County, Jinyuan District, Taiyuan.

He became a Christian through his devout faith in Jesus Christ and serves as a preacher at Xuncheng Church in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province (“Xuncheng” means “City of God”). Because the church he belongs to is a house church and refuses to accept the jurisdiction of the “Three-Self” churches recognized by the Chinese Communist Party authorities, he and the church have been subjected to intensive surveillance and harassment by the authorities. In late January 2020, he traveled with six other clergy members from Xuncheng Church—Zhang Chenghao, Zhang Ligong, Zhang Yaowen, Wang Runyun, Wang Shiqiang and Song Shoushan—to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, to attend the “2020 Gospel and Culture Conference” organized by Pastor Tang Chongrong (a renowned Chinese Christian evangelist and theologian). Although he held a valid passport and visa and passed through customs without incident, and had committed no illegal acts, this drew intense attention and suspicion from the authorities. Also, because he and the church’s congregants refused to attend worship services managed and led by “Three-Self” churches approved by the Chinese Communist Party authorities, on November 15, 2020, while the church was holding its Sunday worship service, it was abruptly raided without cause by Taiyuan armed police and local police. He, his wife, and five other Christians who had taken photos with their mobile phones were taken to a police station for questioning, then handcuffed and transferred to another location for further questioning and the taking of statements. They were not released until 10 p.m. that night. On December 31, 2020, Xiaodian District police in Taiyuan placed him in administrative detention for 15 days and fined him 1,000 yuan on the charge of “organizing illegal religious activities.” On July 28, 2021, Jinyuan District police in Taiyuan criminally detained him on suspicion of “illegally crossing the national (border) boundary”; he was later released on bail pending trial. On November 22 of the same year, Fenyang City police in Shanxi Province again criminally detained him on suspicion of “illegally crossing the national (border) boundary.” He was implicated in the same case as Zhang Chenghao, a fellow church worker at Xuncheng Church, and held at Wanshan County Detention Center. On December 28 of the same year, he was formally arrested. On June 16, 2022, his case was transferred by the Fenyang City Procuratorate to the Fenyang City Court. On August 5 of the same year, the Fenyang City Court held a closed-door hearing in his case. On November 3, he was finally sentenced to one year in prison and fined 5,000 yuan for “illegally crossing the national (border) boundary.” His sentence ran until November 21, 2022. He had previously been held at the Xiaoyi City Detention Center in Fenyang.