Pastor Wang Yi of an unregistered house church in Chengdu, China was convicted of subversion on Monday and sentenced to nine years in prison. This sentence followed a secret trial at the Chengdu Intermediate Court on December 26.

In December 2018, around 100 students and seminary leaders from Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu were arrested during a service for violations of government regulations. Protestants are required to worship only in churches recognized and regulated by the state-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement. The Early Rain Covenant Church was not registered with the government, and Wang had been critical of China‘s Communist system.

Pastor Wang Yi was found guilty of subversion of state power and of illegal business due to his position within the church. He was sentenced to nine years in prison, three years of deprivation of political rights and incurred a fine of 50,000 yuan.