BEIJING—Police in Beijing detained more than 30 evangelical Christians as they attempted to gather outdoors for Easter services and confined about 500 to their homes, continuing a broad crackdown on dissent that has also targeted lawyers, bloggers and human-rights activists.

Church leaders as well as U.S.-based ChinaAid, a group that tracks cases of religious persecution of Christians in China, confirmed at least 34 worshipers were detained in northwest Beijing's Haidian district. It was the third time in recent weeks that police have detained church members as they attempted to gather for services.

Read the complete story(Some news sites require registration)