(Pingyang, Zhejiang — April 22, 2026) The Pingyang County People’s Court in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, is set to publicly hear the case of Pastor Huang Yizi (黄益梓) on April 24, 2026. According to the court notice, Pastor Huang is charged with “illegal business operations.”
In June 2025, the Pingyang County Public Security Bureau detained Pastor Huang Yizi of Fengwo Church (凤卧教堂). It is reported that his alleged “facts of the crime” mainly involved distributing audio Bible players containing his sermons to church members.
At the time, police also detained four other church members. On July 29, 2025, authorities formally approved Huang Yizi’s arrest and placed him in detention at the Pingyang County Detention Center.
At present, the other four individuals involved in the case have been released or had their compulsory measures lifted, leaving the prosecutorial pressure focused entirely on Huang Yizi. Observers believe this indicates the authorities’ intention to prioritize securing a conviction against him.
According to informed sources, although Pastor Huang has been permitted to meet with his lawyer, his communication rights are strictly restricted, and he is unable to send or receive letters from his family. In addition, the detention center has reportedly limited his access to reading the Bible.
According to a pastor familiar with church affairs in Pingyang, the legal action against Huang Yizi is not merely a criminal case but has deeper policy-driven motives:
Local authorities in Pingyang are reportedly working with clergy with ties to the three-self patriotic movement to vigorously promote official ideology in the area and cultivate highly compliant candidates. As an influential traditional clergyman, Huang Yizi is viewed as an obstacle to this agenda.
Huang Yizi previously served in a state-sanctioned church. During the large-scale “demolition of illegal structures” campaign in Wenzhou in 2014, which included the forced removal of crosses, Huang and local Christians firmly opposed the demolition of their church’s cross. In 2015, he was sentenced to one year in prison for “gathering a crowd to disrupt social order” after he was found praying for Christians petitioning a government department.
In recent years, charges such as “illegal business operations,” along with “fraud,” “inciting subversion of state power,” and “organizing and using a cult to undermine the enforcement of law,” have frequently been used by authorities to prosecute individuals involved in house church activities.
The continued detention and prosecution of Christian house church members seriously violate protections for freedom of religion under both domestic law and international human rights conventions. ChinaAid and members of different sectors are calling on authorities to respect citizens’ faith and to immediately release Pastor Huang and all others detained for exercising their religious rights.
Gao Zhensai, Special Correspondent for ChinaAid
