A new massive crackdown against house churches and those who resisted the removal of religious symbols.
by He Yuyan
Between 13 and 18 December 2025, Taishun County, Wenzhou City, in Zhejiang Province, witnessed a large-scale operation targeting Christian communities in Yayáng Town. Accounts from residents, online testimony, and publicly posted notices allow reconstruction of the sequence of events, which included an unusually heavy police presence, mass detentions, and coordinated public messaging.
Residents reported that police units from several cities, including Hangzhou and Pingyang, entered Yayáng Town on 13 December. Witnesses described checkpoints at the town’s entrances, patrols along main roads, and searches of residential areas. Over the first two days, more than one hundred Christians were taken from their homes or workplaces. Additional detentions occurred on 16 and 17 December, bringing the total number of those removed to well over one hundred. Communication about the operation was tightly restricted, and residents said that attempts to share information online were quickly deleted.
The scale of the police action might have remained largely unknown outside the region if not for an unexpected fireworks display on the evening of 15 December. At around 8 p.m., a large pyrotechnic show was launched from the square in front of the Yayáng Town government building. The event, filmed from multiple angles and circulated online by accounts promoting official messaging, immediately drew attention because it did not correspond to any festival or public holiday. Captions accompanying the videos praised local governance and encouraged loyalty to the authorities. As viewers questioned the display’s purpose, residents began to describe the police activity that had occurred in the preceding days. The fireworks, intended as a celebratory gesture, inadvertently exposed the ongoing detentions to a broader audience.
During the same period, authorities posted wanted notices for two well-known figures in the local Christian community, 58-year-old Lin Enzhao and 54-year-old Lin Enci. The notices identified them as principal suspects in a criminal group and offered monetary rewards for information, but did not specify concrete allegations. A separate announcement called on residents to provide evidence of wrongdoing. Individuals claiming local knowledge commented online that the two men had long been active in house churches and had been involved in earlier disputes with authorities, including conflicts over church property and resistance to the removal of religious symbols.
Interviews and online testimony suggest that the December operation followed months of tension between local Christians and officials over the implementation of state religious policy. Residents described disagreements over the placement of national symbols in churches and over requirements for political education campaigns. Several individuals pointed to an incident in June 2025, when local officials entered a Christian gathering site in the early morning hours and installed a flagpole, an action that reportedly intensified mistrust.
These disputes occurred against a broader backdrop of conflict: Christian groups in Yayáng Town have been involved in several confrontations during campaigns to remove crosses from church buildings over the past decade, and observers have noted their collective organisation as a factor in the current situation.
On 18 December, after most detentions had already taken place, local authorities held a public meeting described as a mobilisation event against “criminal activity.” Armed police were present, and officials delivered speeches emphasising public security. No detailed information was provided about the individuals detained or the evidence supporting the allegations. The meeting appeared intended to frame the operation as part of a broader campaign rather than a targeted action against religious groups.
Uses a pseudonym for security reasons.
