Chinese officials on Tuesday arrested 18 leaders of the underground Zion Church. Almost 30 pastors and staffers have been detained, without formal arrest, since the middle of October.

Zion Church is an underground or “house church,” meaning it has not been authorized and controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. The Chinese government is using a technique called “Sinicization” to take control of organized religion and make it subordinate to Communist Party doctrine. “Sinicized” churches, mosques, and temples are forced to teach Communist dogma in addition to their religious beliefs.

Millions of Chinese Christians have bravely chosen to defy the system by worshiping at “house churches,” so-called because they typically hold services in the homes of their congregants. The Zion Church was

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