(Linfen, Shanxi – August 19, 2025) An intermediate people’s court in Shanxi Province recently rejected an appeal, and it upheld heavy sentences against several members of a well-known underground church, which includes a 15-year prison term for the female founder. The verdict was announced abruptly on August 15 and has sparked widespread criticism from human rights observers and legal professionals, who believe the case highlights Beijing’s tightening crackdown on unregistered Christian churches.
Pastor Wang Xiaoguang, co-founder of Linfen Golden Lampstand Church, and his wife, Yang Rongli, were convicted of “fraud” earlier this year. The accusations were primarily based on the church’s acceptance of offerings and donations. Despite the vigorous defense mounted by a team of more than ten Christian lawyers, the Linfen Intermediate People’s Court upheld the original ruling: Wang Xiaoguang was sentenced to 9 years and 7 months in prison plus a fine of 100,000 yuan, while Yang Rongli received the heaviest penalty, a 15-year prison term and a fine of 500,000 yuan (approximately 70,000 USD).
Ten additional church leaders and members were also given varying prison terms, with some receiving suspended sentences, and the longest sentence being 9 years and 2 months. The court did not clearly identify who the victims were; instead, it based its judgment on the claim that offerings among church members constituted “illegal fundraising” or “fraud.” This interpretation has been criticized as legally weak and with obvious ideological bias.
“This is an extremely shocking ruling,” said an anonymous Beijing legal scholar. “This case is tantamount to using economic charges to punish normal religious activity.”
Procedural Flaws and Lack of Transparency Raise Concerns
Defense lawyers stated they were given no prior notice of the judgment of the second instance. On August 14, they submitted a written request to the court asking about the case’s status and were told there were no arrangements. Yet the very next day, the court announced its decision to uphold the original judgment without a public hearing, notifying the lawyers only minutes before the ruling was read.
Judge Shi Xiaopeng, who presided over the case, was also accused of misleading the defense and hastily determining the identities of supposed “victims.” Even though these Christians repeatedly testified that they “were not defrauded,” the court insisted that “even if they do not feel defrauded, they were indeed defrauded.”
“This was not a normal legal process,” said one of the defense lawyers. “It was just a formality to confirm an outcome that had already been decided.”
At the heart of the fraud case was the church’s practice of receiving offerings from Christians, which the court classified as “illegal financing.” Furthermore, during the investigation phase, young Christians were reportedly threatened by police who told them: “If you are a person of faith, you won’t be allowed to go to university.”
The Church Was Repeatedly Suppressed, with Rich History
The Golden Lampstand Church was founded by Wang Xiaoguang and Yang Rongli in the late 1990s. It began as a small home gathering of about 20 people and gradually grew into a large church with tens of thousands of church members. Both Wang and Yang had been employed at Shanxi Normal University, but resigned in 1998 to devote themselves full time to church ministry.
Because the Church refused to join the government-run “Three-Self Patriotic Church” and declined to register with the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau, the Golden Lampstand Church was long regarded by the authorities as an “illegal religious organization,” suffering continuous harassment such as water and power cuts, raids, and forced closures.
In September 2009, Shanxi police mobilized more than 500 armed officers to raid the church’s gathering site and forcibly demolish its building, drawing international attention. That same year, the two founders were sentenced to prison, and other church members also received various terms. Dozens of the church’s meeting locations were sealed. Wang Xiaoguang was released in 2012, and Yang Rongli in 2016. Despite imprisonment and threats, the two consistently refused the demand to join the “Three-Self.”
In 2018, the government deployed heavy construction machinery to carry out a demolition blast on the new church building, which had cost 17 million yuan to build, making it one of the most high-profile church demolitions in China in recent years.
Suppression of Faith and Echoes of History
Historically, Shanxi Province has been a place where Christians suffered severe persecution. During the Boxer Rebellion, an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 Chinese Christians and 200 to 300 foreign missionaries were martyred, with this region witnessing the harshest persecution. Today, under the modern judicial system, similar religious persecution continues.
Human Rights Watch has pointed out that the experiences of the Golden Lampstand Church are not an isolated case but a reflection of China’s ongoing crackdown in recent years against unregistered churches (“house churches”), especially those that are large, influential, and firmly independent in their stance.
“Religious freedom has always been tightly controlled in China,” said a researcher with an international human rights organization. “But the current trend is to completely eradicate any faith community outside of government control.”
As of publication, the Linfen Intermediate Court has yet to respond to public accusations of judicial injustice and procedural violations.
Reported by Special Correspondent Gao Zhensai for ChinaAid
