Beijing: The United States has called on China to release 30 leaders of one of the country’s largest underground Christian networks, who were reportedly detained over the weekend during coordinated raids across multiple cities.

The arrests include pastors and Jin Mingri, founder of the influential Zion Church, who was taken into custody after authorities searched his home early Saturday morning, according to the US-based non-profit ChinaAid.

The crackdown is being described by some Christian groups as the most extensive persecution of religious believers in China in decades. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which promotes atheism and tightly regulates religious activity, requires Christians to worship only in state-sanctioned churches led by government-approved pastors. Those who

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