In a veiled attempt to crush house churches, the authorities have been pressurizing landlords that rent out space to Christians. Because the Chinese authorities often demolish house churches when they find out about them, the believers find it convenient to rent a...
The authorities hired thugs to vandalize and loot a religious gathering venue in Anhui. In July 2015, more than 200 members of a house church were gathered at the home of a believer, Zhou Sheng (pseudonym), in Anhui’s Tongcheng city to participate in a biannual Bible...
Many people in Jilin have been rendered homeless after the police took over a building where they lived. Last month, Bitter Winter reported about the demolition of a house church in Songyuan city of Jilin. Next to it was a building known as “Prayer Mountain,” which...
A church’s administration in Xinjiang was systematically harassed by the authorities over the years. In July 2016, a family church in Xinjiang’s Urumqi city organized an overseas mission for five church personnel. However, the applications of Pastor Wen Jing and Wang...
A woman of Christian faith was driven to suicide due to harassment faced by constant surveillance by authorities. In December 2013, the Chinese Communist Party officially declared that it was ending its “re-education through labor” system. However, ever since then,...
Authorities in Henan’s Sanmenxia city have issued an order to replace crosses with Chinese national flags in the churches that belong to the Protestant Three-Self Patriotic Movement. On August 9, the Religious Governance Steering Group in Henan’s Sanmenxia city held a...
Three members of a family from Yunnan who were arrested in 2016 and subjected to mental torture recount their experience. In October 2016, four police officers from the Chuxiong local station showed up at the home of Zhang Qian (pseudonym). Her house was raided, and...
The shutdown of a Shandong church has left over 70 deaf Christians without a place to worship. In May, the Good New Church in Shandong’s Qingdao city received a notice from the Qingdao Municipal Bureau of Religious Affairs and the Public Security Bureau that the...
A husband and wife, members of a house church, were reported and arrested for organizing a congregation meeting. In the morning of October 21, 2016, the public security bureau of a county in Chuxiong city, Yunnan Province dispatched three squad cars and over ten...
The authorities in Henan have been harassing a Christian couple even after releasing them from their detention more than a year ago. In December 2016, after someone reported them anonymously, five police officers took Lu Ming (pseudonym) and his wife into detention...