Religious Freedom In China Disappearing Forever?

When the state demands every citizen's loyalty, it treats private prayer like a form of rebellion. This creates a reality where religious freedom in China exists only within the boundaries the government draws. Authorities no longer tolerate any organization they cannot directly manage. They view independent faith as a competitor for the hearts and minds of the people. According to a report by Reuters, the state moves with speed and precision to ensure that no group operates outside its reach, evidenced by the January 2026 detention of six underground church members. This change signals a new period where the government treats belief as a matter of national security. 

The Sudden Change in Religious Freedom in China 

Authorities no longer send warnings before they break down doors. They prefer to catch the target completely unprepared. This strategy removes the window of time that leaders once used to hide documents or warn their members. Human Rights Watch reports that on January 6, 2026, police raided the home of the Early Rain Covenant Church (ERCC) leader, Li Yingqiang, and took him away. In November, he had written a letter to his congregants warning them about a "gathering storm." He told them to prepare for an imminent large-scale crackdown because he sensed that the state had finished its preparations and intended to strike. 

Police raided homes and offices across the city. They detained nine members of the ERCC in a single sweep. While authorities released five members on Wednesday, they kept four people in custody. Li Yingqiang and Zhang Xinyue remain behind bars. This operation shows a clear change in enforcement. In the past, officials might have issued a fine or a warning. Now, they move straight to arrests. The Chinese Government website notes that Article 36 of the Chinese Constitution protects religious practice, but it only applies to activities the state defines as "normal." Because the state never clearly defines the word "normal," it uses the term to justify any arrest it chooses. 

How China’s Sinicization Push Turns Belief Into Compliance 

Li Yingqiang’s letter also spoke about his personal fears. He mentioned family safety concerns and the return of hardships. He wanted his followers to understand that the period of "easy" faith had ended. The government now views religious freedom as a privilege they can revoke at any moment. The state targets the leadership of the ERCC to leave the congregation without direction. 

True loyalty to the state requires a citizen to remove any conflicting beliefs from their mind. Reuters reports that President Xi Jinping repeatedly calls for the "Sinicization" of religions, urging followers to pledge loyalty to the Communist Party above all else. The goal carries heavy consequences. The state requires all religious doctrines to match party culture and values. This means a church cannot just teach its own traditions. It must frame those traditions within the context of the Communist Party’s goals. 

How Sinicization Rewrites Faith 

Human rights advocate Bob Fu explains that the government focuses on wiping out independent structures. They want total ideological compliance. When a church refuses to register with the Religious Affairs Bureau (RAB), the state views that refusal as an act of defiance. A prepared statement by Samantha Hoffman for the CECC notes that the United Front Work Department absorbed the State Administration for Religious Affairs in March 2018. This means religious oversight comes directly from the CPC Central Committee. This creates a chain of command that starts at the top of the government and ends at the pulpit. 

Sinicization forces religious leaders to change their messages. They must include state slogans in their sermons and display the national flag in their sanctuaries. If a leader refuses, the state considers them a threat to social stability. Reuters notes that rules for "Sinicization" help the state maintain control and keep religion on a path that adapts to a socialist society. This policy removes the wall between the church and the state. It turns the religious experience into a tool for national unity. When a religion adapts to socialist society, it stops being an independent voice. The state uses the language of "protection" to describe these restrictions while actually making the faith an extension of the government. 

The High Cost of the Jerusalem of China 

Bulldozers flatten buildings and signal that the community has nowhere left to hide. In the city of Wenzhou, this signal is loud and clear. Reuters notes that people call Wenzhou the "Jerusalem of China" because it has a sizable Christian community. Because of this, it has become a primary target for the government's demolition crews. 

During the current week, authorities brought bulldozers and cranes to the Yayang Church. They did not just take down a cross; they demolished the entire structure. This follows a massive operation from the previous December when police arrested nearly 100 Yayang Church members over five days. Today, more than 24 of those members remain in detention. Wenzhou earned the name "Jerusalem of China" because it holds the highest density of Christians in the country. The government sees this concentration of believers as a challenge to its authority. 

The destruction of physical buildings serves a psychological purpose. It tells the believers that their community has no physical space in the future of the country. When the state removes the building, they also remove the center of the community’s social life. This makes it much harder for members to support one another. The use of heavy machinery like cranes shows that the state does not fear public attention. They want the public to see the consequences of operating an unregistered church. The state turns a sanctuary into a pile of rubble to display its total power over the life of the believer. 

Why Digital Walls Are Closing In 

Posting a prayer online now leaves a digital trail that police use to map out entire social circles. The state has realized that physical buildings are only one part of the church. Much of the interaction happens on social media and through digital apps. To counter this, the government enacted a ban on unauthorized online preaching. This rule stops leaders from reaching their followers through videos, blogs, or group chats. 

ChinaAid reports that new regulations specifically state that clergy must not use religion online to amass wealth, prohibiting any form of online fundraising. This digital dragnet blocks sermons and restricts social media fundraising. They also ban child-focused activities online. This prevents parents from using digital tools to teach their children about their faith. The goal is to break the connection between generations. If the youth do not receive religious instruction, the government believes religion will eventually fade away. 

Researcher Yalkun Uluyol notes that the government is tightening mental control. They have no tolerance for allegiances that do not lead back to the party. The state controls the internet to isolate the individual believer. It becomes dangerous to even search for religious content. This digital isolation supports the broader goal of religious freedom in China, or the lack thereof. When a person cannot find a community online and their physical church is a pile of bricks, they have few places left to turn. 

The Result of Document 6 

Governments often look at the collapse of foreign empires to decide which local groups they should fear the most. This is exactly what happened in 1991. After the Soviet Union collapsed, the Chinese government issued Document 6. This document ordered a crackdown on all unregistered groups. The leadership watched how religious groups in the Soviet bloc helped topple those governments. They decided they would not let the same thing happen in China. 

This fear also grew after the Tiananmen Square protests. The state saw any large, organized group as a potential spark for revolution. SARA and Global East records show that in 1994, the state passed Decrees 144 and 145, which made registration mandatory for all religious venues. It gave the state the legal right to monitor every meeting and every member. This history shows that the current crackdown is not a new idea. It is the steady execution of a long-term plan to prevent any group from becoming strong enough to challenge the party. 

Criminalizing the Pulpit Through Law 

Prosecutors realize that labeling a church as a business fraud makes the public less likely to defend it. Reuters reports that prominent pastor Wang Yi received a nine-year prison sentence on charges of inciting subversion of state power and illegally operating a business. They are now trying a new tactic by charging church leaders with financial crimes like fraud or running an illegal business. 

The Jindengtang Church case provides an example of this. By calling the church a business, the state can seize its assets and freeze its bank accounts. This makes the church look like a criminal enterprise rather than a religious group. It confuses the public and makes it harder for international human rights groups to argue for their release. The state also uses "evil cult" designations to justify the complete demolition of certain groups. Once the state labels a group a cult, they can ignore all constitutional protections. 

How many Christians live in China today? The Chinese government counted 44 million Christians in 2018, though this number ignores millions of people in underground churches. These millions of people now live in a legal gray area. If their leader is arrested for "fraud" because they collected tithes, every member becomes a potential witness or a suspect. This legal strategy creates a culture of fear. It turns the act of giving money to a church into a potential crime. 

The Long Road to 2027 

Prison sentences serve as a waiting game where the state hopes the followers will forget their leader before he returns. Reuters confirms Wang Yi is currently serving a nine-year sentence. The state convicted him and his wife, Jiang Rong, in 2018 during a major crackdown on the ERCC. His scheduled release is not until 2027. By then, the state hopes the Early Rain Covenant Church will no longer exist. 

They use these long sentences to send a message to other pastors. The message is simple: if you lead an independent church, you will spend a decade away from your family. This is why Li Yingqiang mentioned his family's safety in his letter. He knew that his arrest would not just affect him, but also his wife and children. The state uses the family as leverage to force leaders into submission. 

Other large churches have met similar fates. Reuters reports that police nationwide detained nearly 30 pastors and staff belonging to Zion Church in mid-October. These raids happened simultaneously across seven cities. The founder, Ezra Jin, remains in custody. The scale of these arrests shows that the government has the logistics to strike everywhere at once. They want to prove that no city is a "safe haven" for religious freedom in China. 

The Cost of Physical Assault 

The tactics used by the state are not always limited to the courtroom. A 2001 church letter detailed the graphic physical assault of captives. It described how authorities used electricity to coerce false testimony and how they tortured Yu Zhongju to death. This history of violence reminds believers of the high stakes involved. While the state often prefers legal charges today, the threat of physical harm remains a primary tool of control. 

Human Rights in China, an advocacy group, continues to condemn these violations. They demand immediate liberty for practitioners and ask the state to enforce constitutional safety. However, the state follows the dictates of former leaders like Jiang Zemin. In 1996, Jiang stated that religion must adapt to socialist society. He wanted active guidance toward state interests. Ye Xiaowen, an official at the time, even suggested that the state should work toward the gradual weakening of religious influence. They view religion as a relic that will eventually disappear if the state manages it correctly. 

A Struggle for the Soul of the Nation 

The conflict over religious freedom in China exceeds simple disagreements over laws; it represents a basic struggle over who owns the conscience of the individual. The government dismantles churches like Yayang and ERCC to attempt to remove any authority that sits higher than the party. They use every tool available, from bulldozers and cranes to digital surveillance and fraud charges. The strategy has shifted from managing religion to systematically absorbing it into the state. 

Li Yingqiang’s "gathering storm" has arrived, and it shows no signs of passing. As the year 2027 approaches, the world will watch to see if the community Wang Yi left behind still stands or if the state's efforts have finally erased it. The reality of China’s religious freedom today is a scene of empty buildings and digital barriers. For the millions of believers who remain, the act of faith has become an act of endurance against a state that demands the whole person. Persisting in belief under these conditions requires a level of conviction that the government’s master plan has yet to break.