01 11 2025
You can hear this article by clicking on the following link.
China’s Brutal Crackdown On Christian Anhui’s Three-Self Church
For those in a hurry, here’s a 50-word summary of the topic.
China’s Crackdown on Anhui’s Covenant Church
In Huainan City, Anhui Province, six Christians from the Covenant Church—a government-registered Three-Self congregation—were arrested for resisting surveillance cameras and the forced removal of their cross. Authorities stripped Pastor Zhao Hongliang of his leadership role, dismantled the church plaque, and banned minors from attending services.
Now the complete version of the topic.
In late May, another chapter in China’s long war on religion unfolded in Huainan City, Anhui Province. Six Christians—Zhao Hongliang, Shang Lei, Xu Yongshui, Xu Kehong, Yang Tongguang, and Huang Yuling—were arrested and charged with “intentional destruction of property.” Their supposed crime? Opposing the installation of surveillance cameras inside their church and refusing to let the state strip away the last vestiges of their faith.
These individuals were part of the Covenant Church in Panji District—an officially recognized congregation under China’s government-controlled Three-Self Patriotic Movement. Even with state approval, their loyalty to faith could not protect them.
When Obedience Is Never Enough
The Covenant Church was not an underground or secret house church. It followed the rules, registered with authorities, and operated within the framework demanded by the Communist Party. But in China, compliance is never enough. Even legal churches must serve as extensions of state propaganda, not as places of worship.
The church members protested when local authorities ordered the removal of their cross—one of the few visible symbols of their faith. They also objected to the enforcement of China’s ban on minors attending church services, a rule designed to choke off Christianity’s next generation. The government’s response was swift and merciless.
Pastor Zhao Hongliang, a respected figure in the local Christian community, was stripped of his official position as a community leader. Soon after, police dismantled the church’s plaque—an act meant to humiliate the congregation and erase its public identity. And in a move symbolic of modern China’s religious persecution, state-installed surveillance cameras were mounted inside the sanctuary, turning the house of God into a monitored zone of fear.
Faith Under Surveillance
Installing cameras inside churches has become a signature tactic of China’s religious control strategy. Beijing calls it “public safety.” In reality, it’s about intimidation. Every sermon, every prayer, every whispered confession is recorded. Believers know they are being watched—not by God, but by the state.
This is not about security; it’s about submission. Cameras force worshippers to self-censor, to silence their faith in the presence of the Party’s invisible eyes. The moment a church resists, it becomes an enemy of the state. And once that label is attached, arrests and prosecutions are inevitable.
In Anhui, the six Covenant Church members were transferred to the local procuratorate, marking the next step in China’s deeply politicized legal system. Their arrest is not about broken property—it’s about broken obedience. Beijing’s message is unmistakable: no church, no pastor, no believer is beyond control.
Destroying Crosses, Crushing Faith
Over the last decade, China’s campaign against Christianity has grown increasingly ruthless. In Zhejiang and Anhui provinces alone, thousands of crosses have been torn down. Churches—some legal, others underground—have been demolished or “repurposed” into community centers, schools, or warehouses.
Children Banned from Churches
One of the most chilling aspects of China’s religious persecution is the systematic exclusion of minors from churches. Under Chinese law, no one under 18 can legally attend a religious service or receive religious education. The goal is simple: sever the link between faith and the future.
For the Covenant Church, the attempt to challenge this policy was met with ruthless retaliation. Authorities claimed the church was “violating youth protection laws,” a hollow justification for stamping out intergenerational faith. By criminalizing children’s exposure to religion, Beijing seeks to raise a generation that knows only the Party’s ideology.
A Nation Without Conscience
As the six arrested believers await trial, their courage stands in stark contrast to the cruelty of the system that seeks to break them. The Covenant Church may be stripped of its cross, its plaque, and its pastor’s title, but its faith endures—defiant against a government that fears the power of hope.
Sources
- Bitter Winter – “Six Christians from Anhui Arrested for Resisting Surveillance Cameras” (May 2025)
- U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Annual Report 2024–2025: China Chapter
- Human Rights Watch – “China: Escalating Religious Persecution in Anhui Province” (2024)
- Radio Free Asia – “Authorities Install Surveillance in Registered Churches in Anhui” (2025)
- ChinaAid – Reports on Church Crackdowns in Huainan and Panji District (2025)
