A major Protestant community loses its sanctuary as authorities complete a long prepared operation.
by He Yuyan
When “Bitter Winter” reported last December on the fiveday police operation in Wenzhou, it was already clear that Yayáng Church—also known locally as Yazhong Church—had become the target of an unusually determined campaign. At that time, dozens of believers had been arrested in coordinated predawn raids on December 14 and 15, the church building had been seized, and the surrounding neighborhood was subjected to a level of surveillance normally reserved for political emergencies. Local Christians told “Bitter Winter” that officers had occupied the premises, blocked access roads, and warned residents not to speak to outsiders. The atmosphere was one of a siege slowly tightening.
Those earlier events, documented by “Bitter Winter” and later cited by “Le Monde” in both its written coverage and video report (which quote our magazine as a source), now appear to have been the prelude to the final act. In recent days, information from local Christians confirms that the church has been demolished. Heavy machinery was brought in after weeks of restricted access to the area, with checkpoints and guard posts reportedly positioned nearly a kilometer from the site. Witnesses described construction vehicles entering through controlled passages and beginning to dismantle the multilevel structure from the upper floors downward. By the morning of May 19, nothing remained of the ornate sanctuary except a field of rubble.
The demolition unfolded under the same conditions of opacity that characterized the December raids. Families of detained believers were reportedly instructed to remain silent, and those attempting to document the scene were turned away. Several additional members of the congregation were detained during the demolition period, joining the group already held since last year. Local Christians say the cross atop the building had been covered in black cloth in the days before the machinery arrived, a gesture that many interpreted as symbolic of the fate authorities had already decided for the church.
The destruction of Yayáng Church marks the culmination of a campaign that officials had openly vowed to “see through to the end.” What began as a sudden mass arrest operation has now resulted in the physical erasure of one of Wenzhou’s most visible unregistered Protestant communities. The pattern is familiar in Zhejiang, where the authorities’ longstanding hostility toward independent Christian activity has repeatedly taken architectural form. Yet the scale of the operation, the duration of the lockdown, and the insistence on isolating the site from public view suggest a heightened determination to prevent scrutiny.
For the believers of Yayáng Church, the loss of their building is only one part of a broader ordeal that includes detentions, interrogations, and the ongoing pressure placed on their families. For observers of religious policy in China, the demolition stands as another reminder that campaigns against unregistered churches continue to intensify even when international attention briefly turns toward dialogue.
Uses a pseudonym for security reasons.
