BEIJING -- Police have detained 35 Christians in northern China for worshiping outside the official church, and sentenced 15 of them to labor camps, a human rights group said Wednesday.
The Christians were detained Saturday by police who raided a clandestine service in Dongsheng, a city in the Inner Mongolia region, the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said.
A police official contacted by telephone in Dongsheng confirmed that the Christians were detained for "illegal religious activity." He said some had been released; he wouldn't give his name or any other details.
China allows only government-controlled religious groups. It has imprisoned and harassed members of the flourishing non-denominational Protestant "house church" movement, so called because worship often takes place in private homes.
Those sent to labor camps include a woman named Wang Yulan, whose offense was considered "more serious" than others, the Information Center said. It didn't elaborate.
The center said her husband was sent to a labor camp last year, and said her absence will leave no one to look after their 12-year-old son.