China: October 21, 2016. Three members of a Chinese house church have been accused by the government of illegal activities. According to ChristianToday.com, two of the church members have been accused of spying while the third member was accused of “illegal business activities.” One of the accused is named Wang Yao. Another member of the church who attended the trial stated, "Wang Yao's family weren't allowed to attend the trial, and neither were two lawyers hired by her family to defend her." “There have been people watching me in the past few days from my neighborhood committee and the local police station... They follow me wherever I go. The police have placed very tight controls on all Huoshi Church members,” the church member added. Another one of the accused church members, Li Hongmin, has been charged with handing out more than 11,000 gospel tracts. This is the latest incident in China’s increased crackdown on Christianity. There are about 68 million Protestants and nine million Catholics in China, but the government only recognizes state-sanctioned churches. According to a report from China Aid, persecution in the country has increased sevenfold since 2008.