Case Details and Profile of Qu Hongbo (Mingdao), Victim in Shenyang “Saitel Fellowship Case,” Who Was Arrested

(Rights Defense Network Information Center report) On April 4, 2026, this website learned of the case details and profile of Qu Hongbo (Mingdao), a victim in the Shenyang “Saitel Fellowship Case” who was arrested. They are hereby reported as follows:

Qu Hongbo: Also known as Mingdao, a native of Liaoning Province, a Christian, pastor of the “Saitel Youth Fellowship” in Kangping County, Shenyang (affiliated with Shenyang’s house church, the “Church of the Way of Life,” also known as the “All-Range Church”), a victim in the “Saitel Fellowship Case,” and a Chinese prisoner of conscience.

In his early years, he was a businessman with a substantial income, but after being baptized and converting to faith in Jesus Christ, as his understanding of the Christian faith deepened, in the 2010s he felt a strong calling and resolutely gave up his comfortable life, equipped himself through theology, and devoted himself full-time to pastoral ministry for more than a decade; the church describes him as a good pastor who “possesses both virtue and ability, has clean hands and a pure heart, and is full of love”;

However, as the Chinese Communist regime has intensified its suppression of Christian house churches, his church has also continually faced persecution and threats from the authorities against its pastors, co-workers, and key believers; on June 28, 2025, police from the Shengli Police Station in Kangping County, Shenyang, suddenly broke into his home and forcibly took him away, and his home was searched; from the following day through July 2, several other church co-workers and key believers were also taken by police from their respective homes, and each home was searched; on June 29, he and five other church co-workers (Wang Xiangchao, Shao Huaxuan, Chen Jian, Liu Xueyun, and Gu Hui) were criminally detained by Kangping County police on suspicion of “using a cult organization to undermine law enforcement”; during their detention and interrogation, several of them were subjected to torture and forced confessions; among other things, in order to make him admit to fabricated facts, whenever he refused to comply during the torture, the police forced him to squat on his toes and kicked him whenever he moved even slightly; he was also hooded several times and beaten by seven or eight people, leaving him with serious injuries in many parts of his body, an inverted lip, and a mouth full of bruises; moreover, in order to achieve the purpose of the interrogation, the police deprived him of food and water for more than 10 hours, forcing him to write false testimony and a statement of repentance; the two other female church members arrested at the same time as him were also separately subjected to torture, including being slapped, having their arms twisted, having their hair pulled, being kicked in the legs, and being struck in the ribs with elbows; they were even threatened and intimidated with threats against their respective children and elderly family members, in order to force them to write false testimony and statements of repentance; from July 29 to July 31 of the same year, all five others, including Wang Xiangchao, were successively released on bail pending trial, while he remained in custody; but from September 26 to 29, four of them (Wang Xiangchao, Shao Huaxuan, Liu Xueyun, and Gu Hui) were again taken into custody and rearrested, and the following day his wife, Hua Zhao, was also taken away by police; as of now, all six of them have been formally arrested on the same charge; it is reported that although a legal team has formally intervened in his case and communicated with the authorities handling it, hoping that the authorities would strictly distinguish between lawful religious activities and cult activities when handling such cases and avoid “expanding the crackdown,” details concerning the subsequent progress of the case and their physical health have remained unavailable.

He is currently being held at the Kangping County Detention Center in Shenyang (Beisanjiazi Subdistrict, Kangping County, Shenyang, Liaoning Province; postal code: 110500).