December 19, 2025 | Washington, D.C.
ChinaAid strongly condemns a sweeping and coordinated assault by Chinese authorities on a major house-church network in Yayang Town, Taishun County, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province—widely known as the “Jerusalem of China” for its vibrant Christian community.
In the early hours of December 15, 2025, more than 1,000 police officers—including special police, riot police, and firefighters mobilized from multiple localities—surrounded and forcibly stormed Yayang Church, the representative church of the Yayang area. Several hundred believers who were inside the church were arrested and held at undisclosed locations until approximately 11:00 a.m. that morning. Key church coworkers were placed under criminal detention. Personal belongings were illegally confiscated, roads leading to the church were completely sealed off, and Christians in Yayang Town are currently barred from entering Yayang Church.
The crackdown targets twelve independent house churches belonging to the Yayang-area Assembly (“聚会处”), all of which adhere to the Watchman Nee–style Assembly tradition and operate as fully autonomous congregations. These churches maintain regular fellowship and communication among themselves, with Yayang Church long serving as a benchmark and representative church in the region.
This latest escalation follows renewed pressure beginning on June 25, 2025, when authorities demolished walls and doors at a neighboring church known as “Yayang West,” while forcibly implementing policies requiring churches to raise the national flag and install surveillance cameras—measures that triggered strong resistance among believers.
On the evening of Monday, December 15, 2025, the Yayang Town Government Square in Taishun County suddenly set off fireworks reportedly costing millions of RMB. Local believers widely believe this was intended to celebrate the “successful suppression” of Yayang Church. On December 18, Taishun County convened an oath‑taking rally for the so‑called “Special Campaign to Deepen the Crackdown on the ‘Six Tyrannies’ and Other Organized Crimes,” deploying large numbers of riot police to display force, apply pressure, and create an atmosphere of fear among local Christians.
At present, police vehicles remain stationed near the homes of many Yayang believers. The church’s principal coworkers have already been arrested, and communication among believers has been severely disrupted, making it impossible to obtain unified or confirmed information. No one can currently determine the exact number of individuals from the twelve churches who have been placed under criminal detention; initial estimates exceed twenty people.
Authorities are reportedly going door to door, pressuring Christians to accuse Yayang Church leaders Lin Enzhao and Lin Enci of the crime of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” At the same time, local officials are fabricating defamatory rumors portraying Christians as “unpatriotic” or as members of “evil cults,” leaving believers in the area living under intense fear and anxiety.
“This is not an isolated incident but a regional suppression campaign comparable in scale and severity to the Linfen, Shanxi church case, and following the October 9, 2025 Zion Church case,” said Dr. Bob Fu, Ph.D., Founder and President of China Aid. “The steadfast faithfulness of the Yayang-area churches in defending the cross has made them a prime target of systematic persecution.”
China Aid calls on the international community, democratic governments, and human‑rights mechanisms to publicly condemn this crackdown, demand the immediate release of all detained Christians, and urge Chinese authorities to cease fabricating charges and to respect freedom of religion or belief in accordance with international human‑rights standards.