(Xiamen, Fujian province) On June 28, Chinese officials enforced and doubled the fine for the well-known pastor of Xunsiding Church Yang Xibo, and his wife Wang Xiaofei. They owe a total of 400,000 yuan (~$55,100) for organizing religious activities.
Their Response
The couple posted on their social media that they would not pay the fine. “Thank God for allowing us to have a part in His affliction, and especially thankful that on earth we have no property for the court-enforced implementation, which is definitely a great grace of God.”
Photo: “Exigent to Implement the Administrative Punishment Decision” given to Yang Xibo and Wang Xiaofei (ChinaAid source)
Organizing religious activities
Pastor Yang Xibo and his wife have attempted every avenue to overturn this fine since 2021. Despite their best attempts, Chinese Communist Party bureaucracies reject every appeal for reconsideration.
House church history
The Xunsiding Church is the largest house church in Xiamen, with a hundred-year house church heritage. Pastor Yang Xibo’s aunt and father were well-known house church forerunners. They were imprisoned for 15 years and 5 years respectively for refusing to join the Three-Self Church. After their release, they courageously continued to serve the church. Today, the church is led by the fourth-generation minister Yang Xibo.
Harassed for four years
On May 19, 2019, the church was banned and fined 25,000 yuan (~$3,400). The government dispatched policemen to surround the church venue. They besieged Xunsiding Church for 30 days. After that, the authorities surveilled members constantly. As a result, the church changed meeting spaces frequently only to be met with more raids and bans. During raids, authorities demolished private property and forced members to send their children to public schools.
Financial oppression
However, the serial persecutions still failed to achieve the goal of breaking up the expansive house church network. Government officials decided to impose administrative penalties and fines.
~Yu Bing, ChinaAid Special Reporter
