(Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China — May 20, 2026) Authorities in eastern China have demolished a prominent church in a region known as “China’s Jerusalem,” razing the building with large excavators.
Yazhong Church (also known as Yayang Church), an unregistered Protestant church in Yayang Town, Zhejiang Province, has been under siege since late last year.
On Dec. 14 and 15, local authorities arrested 103 church members in a pre-dawn raid and took control of the church building, as confirmed last week in new reporting by Le Monde. That same week, at a public event, an unidentified government official announced: “We will see this campaign through to the end.”
Five months later, heavy construction vehicles passed through tightly controlled security checkpoints set up by authorities, according to multiple sources confirmed by ChinaAid News. Crews then demolished the multi-level sanctuary from the top down, reducing it to rubble. Due to an unprecedented information blackout, the exact date of the demolition is not yet known; sources provided an initial report on May 19.
Concurrently with the demolition, authorities arrested four additional church members, one identified as You Ci’en, according to local sources, cited anonymously to protect their safety. They join 18 other members of Yazhong Church previously jailed.
The families of all detained individuals reportedly received official warnings instructing them to remain silent, sources familiar with the situation stated to ChinaAid News.
Authorities reportedly imposed strict information controls ahead of the demolition, measures that sources said appeared intended to limit public scrutiny.
Multiple confidential sources said the area surrounding the church had been placed under lockdown in recent weeks, while checkpoints and guard posts were established roughly one kilometer from the site to prevent unauthorized access. The church cross was also covered with black cloth prior to the demolition.
Wenzhou has been called “China’s Jerusalem” due to its large Christian population. The destruction of Yazhong Church, escalates a broader suppression campaign in Taishun County documented over months by ChinaAid News.
The campaign has included continuous surveillance, stringent information controls, and the closure of businesses linked to alleged church members.
“My brothers and sisters in the faith have stood strong for so long,” said Bob Fu, president of Texas-based nonprofit group ChinaAid. “More so than the loss of a church building, I lament how the CCP has cracked down on this area known for its faithful Christians and oppressed them more and more day by day.”
He added: “These recent actions show that the persecution of Christians by Chinese authorities has intensified, becoming more institutionalized and targeted.”
Church resisted order to display Chinese flag
The conflict originated from the church’s resistance to what congregants perceived as increasingly aggressive methods of religious repression imposed by local Chinese Communist Party authorities.
Yazhong Church is affiliated with the “Local Church” movement (also known as the “Assembly” movement), a faith tradition that traces its origins to the early twentieth-century Chinese preacher Watchman Nee and shares historical roots with the British Closed Brethren movement.
Due to its location in the remote mountainous region of southern Zhejiang, the church has maintained the independent traditions characteristic of Wenzhou’s local churches and has historically kept a distance from local government authorities.
According to congregants, tensions escalated significantly during the previous summer. The immediate catalyst was a government directive requiring the Chinese national flag to be displayed inside the sanctuary and a flagpole erected on church grounds, which believers regarded as an infringement on the sanctity of their faith.
Subsequently, in June 2025, government personnel entered the church property by force, demolished part of the outer wall, and installed the flagpole, prompting collective protests and sparking a standoff between the church and the authorities.
Analysts who closely monitor religious freedom in China note that Wenzhou has been among the most aggressive regions in implementing religious policies over the past decade. Only churches affiliated with the state-controlled Three-Self Patriotic Movement are officially sanctioned.
“Any Christian church unwilling to submit to state power — even this one, without any political involvement — the Chinese Communist Party feels it has to silence and even destroy,” said Fu.
Pre-Christmas “inspection” led to mass church detentions
Chinese authorities planned the operation against Yazhong Church several months in advance, as previously reported by ChinaAid News.
On Dec. 14 and 15, 2025, Zhejiang authorities deployed large numbers of special police and riot-control officers to Yayang Town, conducting coordinated “inspection operations” at 12 local church gathering sites.
During the operation targeting Yazhong Church, more than 100 believers were dispersed and temporarily detained.
As the government’s campaign intensified, the scope of detentions broadened. To date, 22 believers, including church leaders Lin Enzhao and Lin Enci, have been subjected to long-term criminal detention, according to multiple sources.
Authorities charged them with the ambiguous offense of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” a broad public-order offense frequently used against activists and religious groups.
However, sources note that four church members were recently released on bail pending trial.
Last week, French media outlet Le Monde continued its reporting on believers in Yayang last week with a video detailing new developments following an extensive January investigation.
‘Our prayers are not reduced to rubble’
Despite ongoing international scrutiny, local authorities’ demolition of Yazhong Church reflects continuing tensions between Beijing and independent Christian communities across China.
Observers have compared the incident to the 2014 demolition of Sanjiang Church in Wenzhou, which drew international attention.
In this recent case, sources said authorities imposed a near-total ‘information vacuum’ before demolition crews arrived.
Law enforcement personnel at the scene reportedly imposed strict monitoring of electronic devices. Individuals attempting to take photographs or record video with mobile phones were immediately intercepted, expelled, or detained, sources tell ChinaAid News.
Human rights advocacy groups state that the authorities’ severe restrictions on online discussion and information dissemination highlight the sensitivity of such actions.
One analyst, granted anonymity for his safety, asked: “If the demolition was entirely lawful and proper, why would authorities go to such extraordinary lengths to impose a total information blackout?”
As of publication, neither the Wenzhou municipal government nor the Taishun County Public Security Bureau had issued a statement.
Sources indicated that local police continue to conduct sporadic arrests and interrogations targeting believers involved in the incident or those attempting to speak publicly about it.
“Our sources confirm that this beautiful and sacred place of worship has been destroyed – but our prayers are not reduced to rubble,” said Fu. “May this loss wake up the global church to what’s happening in China, a great conflict between faithful believers and state power.
Gao Zhensai is special Correspondent for ChinaAid News. Founded in 2002, ChinaAid is an international, Christian nonprofit human rights organization that inspires, informs, and invites people to transformative action on behalf of persecuted people of all faiths in China.