Arrests reported, cross removed as China crackdown on unofficial churches grows

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/48752727

Yayang church, in the Wenzhou area of Zhejiang province, is one of China's unregistered churches that emerged as an alternative to places of worship regulated and approved by Beijing.

China's ruling Communist Party has historically regarded organised religion with suspicion, and under President Xi Jinping, has tightened scrutiny of unofficial groups.

The events in Wenzhou come the same week an underground church in the southwestern city of Chengdu said several of its key leaders had been detained.

"As Beijing tightens its ideological control, unofficial churches are seen as 'disobedient' to the Communist Party ideology and, therefore, pay a heavy price," Yalkun Uluyol, China researcher at Human Rights Watch, said.

Overseas religious rights groups said the crackdown on the Protestant church in the town of Yayang began in mid-December, with reportedly around 100 members initially detained, and two dozen still in custody.

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When reporters asked one of the dozen or so guards blocking access to the building what was happening, they declined to comment and told the journalists to move on.

Despite otherwise light security, at one point 12 SWAT officers marched briefly up and down a street near the church.

Two locals told AFP separately they had been told filming the scaffolding was forbidden, and that a woman had been "taken away" for doing so.

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Churches and rights groups say the campaign against underground churches stepped up last year.

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