(Jiangxi — December 8, 2025) According to the pastoral team of Beijing Zion Church, several believers were recently taken away by police in both Jiangxi and Beijing, raising concerns within the group about the local climate surrounding religion and law-enforcement practices.
According to information released by the church, at three in the afternoon Beijing time on November 30 (Sunday), a Christian named Zhenyu, who was meeting with several university students in Nanchang, was suddenly confronted and taken away by officers from the Honggutan Branch of the Nanchang Public Security Bureau. The church states family members have received no formal notice of custody or any other information even after significant time has passed since the incident.
The church also reported that two to three university students in Nanchang were taken to a police station for lengthy questioning because they participated in faith-related discussions at an off-campus public location. Some of their schools were reportedly asked to intervene in the matter.
Local police have not publicly commented on the incident.
A similar situation recently occurred in Beijing. Zion Church said that recently, Fengtai District police detained a believer named Chang Rou, who had attended a family Thanksgiving gathering, citing “organizing a gathering of believers,” and placed Chang Rou under administrative detention. Beijing authorities likewise have not publicly explained the reason for her detention.
The Chinese government has long maintained that religion must be managed according to law, but these frameworks often devolve into excessive and arbitrary enforcement when implemented at local levels. Police entering private spaces, taking away believers, and failing to notify families; such procedural deficiencies not only fail legal scrutiny but also undermine the government’s own narrative of working to strengthen the rule of law.
A country will not be destabilized because people eat a Thanksgiving meal in their kitchen, nor should it feel anxious when a few students discuss faith in a park. In an era that repeatedly emphasizes national confidence, an overreaction to harmless religious activities instead reveals a certain insecurity. A truly stable society has no need to respond so tensely to ordinary citizens praying, having conversations, or sharing meals.
In response to the consecutive incidents, Zion Church called for the outside world’s attention and prayer, expressing concern for the safety of detained members. The statement urged authorities to protect citizens’ fundamental rights, including notifying the families as required by law, and emphasized that religious belief should not be grounds for detention.
The statement also called on authorities to “stop arbitrary arrests” and quoted a passage from Romans: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? To describe the church’s current circumstance and hope.
As of now, Chinese authorities have not publicly responded to these allegations.
China Aid Association
