(Nanning, Guangxi, China — June 29, 2025) It has recently been learned that on February 7, 2023, the Jiangnan District People’s Court of Nanning City, Guangxi, issued a criminal verdict convicting Christians Chen Xianyang, Chen Weiyi, and Lin Zhe of “organizing and using a cult organization to undermine the implementation of the law.”

• Chen Xianyang was sentenced to three years and ten months in prison and fined 6,000 RMB;
• Chen Weiyi was sentenced to three years and seven months in prison and fined 5,000 RMB;
• Lin Zhe was sentenced to three years and four months in prison and fined 3,000 RMB.

The families of the three Christians and their church expressed strong objections to the verdict, believing it to be a crackdown on normal religious activities.

Case Background and Arrest Process

According to reports, the three Christians, Chen Xianyang, Chen Weiyi, and Lin Zhe, are originally from Zhejiang and later moved to settle down in Nanning, where they became involved in local church activities.

Since 2016, Chen Xianyang has been renting a room at Century Shangdu Building, No. 7 Jinpu Road, Qingxiu District, Nanning City, to hold gatherings with other Christians. Chen Weiyi and Lin Zhe later joined and became core coworkers in the church, responsible for organizing gatherings and leading hymns, respectively. The house church grew steadily, with the number of attendees increasing to dozens and even over a hundred.

On August 25, 2019, the church’s Sunday gathering was raided by police. Authorities forcibly shut down the gathering, confiscated propaganda materials, notebooks, music scores, and other materials, and took Chen Xianyang, Chen Weiyi, Lin Zhe, and other coworkers into custody. They were initially subjected to five days of administrative detention.

After this period was fulfilled, on August 31, they were placed under criminal detention and formally arrested on October 8. Following prolonged detention, Lin Zhe was released on bail on December 24, 2022, while Chen Xianyang and Chen Weiyi remained in custody until the completion of their sentences.

Prosecution’s Allegations and Court Ruling

The People’s Procuratorate of Jiangnan District, Nanning City accused Chen Xianyang and others of using rented premises from 2016 to August 2019 as a base to organize Christians in the participation of a so-called “house church,” and identified them as spreading the teachings of the “Shouters” sect. Chen Weiyi and Lin Zhe were accused of being key members of this “cult organization.” The prosecution claimed that during the August 25, 2019 raid, police seized 339 pieces of “Shouters” cult propaganda materials, including Hymns of Praise, Study Materials, and other books.

Although the three individuals and their defense lawyers strongly contested the charges in court, explaining that while they were influenced by the Little Flock church of Watchman Nee and occasionally read books by Lee, they were not members of the “Shouters” sect, they insisted that their church was a typical fundamentalist Christian house church, not a cult as designated by the court. They emphasized that all individuals attended all gatherings voluntarily and that no actions harmful to society had been carried out. They also challenged the legality of the evidence and the validity of the evaluations, noting, for example, that the seized books did not belong to them and that some merely contained Biblical content and should not be considered cult propaganda. However, the court did not accept these defense opinions.

The criminal judgment by the People’s Court of Jiangnan District, Nanning City, found that the actions of Chen Xianyang, Chen Weiyi, and Lin Zhe constituted “using a cult organization to undermine the implementation of the law.” The sentences were as follows:

• Chen Xianyang: Sentenced to three years and ten months in prison and fined 6,000 RMB convicted with using a cult organization to undermine the implementation of the law (sentence period: August 25, 2019 – June 24, 2023).
• Chen Weiyi: Sentenced to three years and seven months in prison and fined 5,000 RMB convicted with using a cult organization to undermine the implementation of the law (sentence period: August 25, 2019 – March 24, 2023).
• Lin Zhe: Sentenced to three years and four months in prison and fined 3,000 RMB convicted with using a cult organization to undermine the implementation of the law (sentence period: August 25, 2019 – December 24, 2022).

The so-called “cult propaganda materials” seized by the public security authorities were ordered to be confiscated according to law.

“Cult Crime” Becomes a Catch-All Charge to Suppress Christianity

This verdict has raised deep concerns about the state of religious freedom in China. In recent years, in addition to charges such as fraud, illegal business operations, and organizing illegal border crossings, the charge of “cult crime” has become another commonly used tool by Chinese authorities to suppress house churches. Numerous pastors and Christians have been accused under this charge, highlighting how it has become a catch-all label arbitrarily imposed on clergy and Christians, severely infringing on citizens’ right to religious freedom.

(Reported by Special Correspondent Ningmeng of ChinaAid)