130 in Christian Sect Reported Jailed

Police in central China arrested 130 members of an underground Christian evangelical group, including three American citizens, a human rights group reported. The church members were seized in an afternoon raid in Henan province’s Xihua county and have been detained at the county jail, the Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China reported. Among those arrested were Henry Chu, Patricia Lan and Sandee Lin, American missionaries who are residents of California, the Hong Kong-based center reported. The report did not give their hometowns. Those arrested were members of the Fangcheng church, whose founder, Zhang Rongliang, was sentenced to two years in a labor camp in December on charges of leading a cult.