China’s large churches that were reorganized and spread after authorities dismantled it in 2018 are facing renewed detention and closures in the past few weeks, reported Rights Monitor Bitter Winter.
Security agents suspended Sunday services at the Beijing Zion Church branch in Gitzhou region on June 1, detaining all people. According to Bitter Winter, Elder Yao Yong and his brother Mao Zedong were each sentenced to 15 days of administrative detention.
At Jiaxing in Zhiaging Province, police visited a colleague’s home at Beijing Zion Church on June 3 to confirm their ID cards, and in Anhui province, local authorities detained Rev. Gao Le of Hefei Zion Church for five days on May 30.
“During the attack, they searched the home of his congregation and confiscated their books,” reported Bitter Winter.
In the national central city of Cheong Gin, authorities have closed three Zion churches, and police have visited churches in Hangzhou, Ninbo, Giyang and other regions, according to the rights outlet.
“This is a coordinated police campaign aimed at demolishing Zion churches across the country,” Bitter Winter said. “Beijing Xiong Church was once the largest church in the city. Despite being attacked and banned by authorities in 2018, its members continued to gather, faced regular arrests and harassment, and frequently changed locations to avoid police detection.”
The branch of Beijing Zion Church is created in several cities and states. Founded in 2007, the church first faced pressure from authorities to express support for the persecuted Shawang Church. In June 2018, authorities installed a facial recognition system outside the Beijing Zion Church building, along with the listening device.
“The police will track followers at work and at home and enforce signature assurances that they will no longer be involved in the Zion Church congregation,” reported Bitter Winter.
The government dismantled the church’s online messaging services and repeatedly canceled them whenever the church created new accounts. Authorities also tapped the congregation members and the pastor’s mobile phones, according to the outlet.
“In July (2018), authorities tried to bribe a pastor with family members at the hospital,” Bitter Winter said. “They told him, “If you promise to work with us, the illness that your family spends tens of thousands of people can be cured by us for just a few thousand yuan.”
Authorities questioned five more pastors and 12 preachers, who claimed that one official had stolen “moles” within the congregation to obtain information.
Authorities later managed to pressure the church landlord to end the lease. When the church refused to vacate its property, in 2018, Beijing’s Chaoyang District Home Affairs Bureau issued a notice that the church was banned, and its “illegal promotion materials” were confiscated on the grounds that, according to the bitter winter, it violated new regulations on religious issues.
Prison situation
In Xi’an, Shaankhshi province, the son of a pastor and wife, who had been sentenced to seven years since 2021, provided an update on their condition after reporting that their father was tortured by authorities and that prisoners were assaulted for failing to meet their demands for “protective money.”
Rev. Chang Yuguan, also known as Jang Yu-Chun, and his wife Li Chen Hui, were convicted of “illegal business operations” for printing Christian books without permission, Bitter Winter reported. Their son, Chang Shen Gi, previously said that authorities had refused to investigate injuries caused by prison staff two years ago.
Chang Shengyi told the rights group he was able to meet with his father on March 18th and learned that prison officials had made him consider the injury.
“But because it had been two years, the three assessment agencies refused to carry out the assessment, saying the process was too complicated and the workload was too heavy,” Chang Shengyi said.
He added that for the first time in over four years, he was able to hold his father’s hand through a small window.
“My dad has now been moved to a prison area with a relatively low population turnover, so there’s no need to worry about him being retaliated,” he said.
Jang Shen Gi said he learned that after being allowed to meet with his mother on March 17th, she often feels headaches and dizziness.
“She sometimes feels dizzy and even feels pain when she lies in the wrong position,” he said. “Since my mother first reported this in November 2023, the prison just said she would queue for a CT scan, but she hasn’t been reviewed yet.”
He said he would report the situation to his mother’s prison area guard and decide what to do next, he added.
“When I met my parents over the last two days, they expressed a special thanks for everyone’s thoughts and prayers,” he said. “Sometimes they are even informed to receive some letters or postcards, but unfortunately, due to faith-related content, they cannot see most of them.”
China ranked 15th on the 2025 Open Doors World Watchlist of 50 countries where it is the hardest to become a Christian.
