FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MIDLAND, Texas (July 14, 2026) — Chinese authorities have allegedly subjected a former house church leader now living in Texas to repeated telephone calls demanding that she return to China. ChinaAid President Bob Fu says the reported harassment reflects an expanding pattern of pressure against Christians both inside and beyond China’s borders.
The reported calls involve Zhang Mei, 55, a former volunteer lay leader for over 30 years at house churches in Yueyang, Hunan Province, in south-central China. Zhang and her daughter, Li Dixuan, 27, who has a student visa, now live in the Dallas area and have applied for asylum in the United States.
“This case demonstrates that the Chinese Communist Party’s campaign against independent Christians no longer stops at China’s borders,” said Rev. Dr. Bob Fu, president and founder of ChinaAid. “No family seeking safety in the United States should have to fear harassment from a foreign government.”
According to Zhang, Chinese police have repeatedly telephoned her in recent months asking when she and Li intend to return to China. Zhang said her husband, who remains in China, has also received similar inquiries from state security officials.
Church members and acquaintances familiar with the family’s situation have urged Zhang and Li not to return to China, warning that doing so could expose them to significant legal and personal safety risks.
The reported harassment comes days after coordinated police raids on several house churches in Yueyang, where Zhang previously served as a volunteer lay leader before coming to the United States.
According to information received by ChinaAid, police simultaneously raided several Christian gathering sites across Yueyang at approximately 7:40 p.m. Beijing time on July 11.
Those reportedly taken into custody included Pastor Huang Lei, Elder Yang Jianjun, Teacher Yuan Shiying, numerous church co-workers, many believers, and children and teenagers participating in church activities.
Several believers who were later released said they were held for hours while police conducted interrogations, with some not released until approximately 3:00 a.m. on July 12.
Those released also said police told them authorities had spent nearly six months conducting surveillance and preparing for the operation, describing the July 11 raids as the “final net-closing operation” in a campaign targeting Yueyang’s house churches.
Fu said he has known Li since 2020, when she studied at Dallas Baptist University, and described her as an active participant in evangelism, discipleship, and ministry through Arlington Chinese Church, a multi-site evangelical congregation in the Dallas area.
Li’s husband, Nathan Clemetson, who is a U.S. citizen, recently stated in a YouTube interview that his wife has filed a petition for withholding of removal “so that she won’t be deported to China, because that would not be ideal for her in any way, as the daughter of a Christian minister.”
“Christianity isn’t something that’s openly allowed in China, and she’s been persecuted for that,” added Clemetson.
An expert in religious persecution in China, Fu said Christians with her background face a significant risk of detention, interrogation, and other forms of persecution if returned to China.
Zhang, Li’s mother, has for decades been involved in China’s underground house church movement, including serving alongside Pastor John Cao, a Chinese Christian leader who was imprisoned for seven years.
ChinaAid noted that the reported harassment comes shortly after the July 1 implementation of China’s new Ethnic Unity and Progress Law, legislation the organization recently warned could broaden Beijing’s authority to pursue organizations and individuals outside mainland China.
The law authorizes authorities to pursue conduct they determine undermines “ethnic unity and progress,” prompting concern among religious freedom advocates that it could be used to justify transnational repression on religious communities and others beyond China’s borders.
ChinaAid said the alleged intimidation of Zhang’s family, together with the coordinated raids in Yueyang, reflects what the organization believes is an escalating campaign against independent Christian communities in China and those with ties to them abroad.
The organization called on the Chinese government to immediately release all pastors, church leaders, and believers detained during the July 11 operation; respect the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religious belief by ending the criminalization of peaceful religious gatherings; cease harassment and intimidation of Christians and their family members, including those residing outside China; and allow Christians throughout China to worship freely without fear of surveillance, detention, or persecution.
ChinaAid said it is continuing to monitor the developing situation and is working to verify additional details regarding those detained and their legal status while advocating for Christians who report facing intimidation beyond China’s borders.
“We ask Christians around the world to pray for Pastor Huang Lei, Elder Yang Jianjun, Teacher Yuan Shiying, all those who remain detained, and for Zhang Mei, Li Dixuan, and other believers who continue to face pressure because of their faith,” Fu said. “Please pray for their protection, for courage and endurance, and for the continued strength and witness of the church in Yueyang and of Chinese Christians around the world.”
Media Contact:
ChinaAid Association
Email: media@chinaaid.org
Website: www.ChinaAid.org