CHINA: Fresh Wave Of Christian Persecution Under Xi’s CCP

Unlike his predecessor, Xi has been aggressively harassing the Christian church, knocking down buildings, and arresting pastors. Some of the demands would even offend the political left if they were leveled against anyone other than Christians.

Churches have been ordered to take down pictures of saints and even crucifixes, with the instruction to hang images of China’s communist leadership in its place.

With Xi having his term in office extended to a lifelong appointment, he has been following the footsteps of other tyrannical dictators before him. China even went so far as to insist that Churches preach some sort of a summary of Xi’s speech (sermon?) in praise of 100 years of Communism from the pulpits. Or else. For anyone who wondered if Xi is functionally different from the leaders of Iran or North Korea on the ‘you-must-worship-your-government-as-god’ front, weight the evidence for yourselves.

For anyone who thought Xi would dial back his repression and soften his tone, guess again.

This was him in October of 2025: China Cracks Down HARD On Christian Churches… Again

And this is what they’re doing now.

Leaders of a prominent underground church have been detained in south-west China, according to a church statement, the latest blow in what appears to be a sweeping crackdown on unregistered Christian groups in the country.

On Tuesday, Li Yingqiang, the leader of the Early Rain Covenant Church, was taken by police from his home in Deyang, a small city in Sichuan province, according to the statement. Li’s wife, Zhang Xinyue, has also been detained, along with two other church members: Dai Zhichao, a pastor; and Ye Fenghua, a lay member. At least a further four members were taken and later released, while some others remain out of contact.

The crackdown followed the arrest of 18 senior members of Zion Church, another prominent underground church, in a nationwide sweep in October. In December, there were also reports of approximately 100 members of another unofficial church in Zhejiang province being detained , according to Human Rights Watch.

Yalkun Uluyol, the China researcher at the rights NGO, said: “The recent detention of Early Rain members appears to be part of the Chinese government’s blatant attack on house churches in China. As Beijing tightens its ideological control, unofficial churches are seen as ‘disobedient’ to the Communist party ideology and, therefore, pay a heavy price.” — Guardian

Officially, China’s constitution enshrines religious freedom for 5 religions, including Catholic and Protestant expressions of Christianity.

But in reality, their communist worldview demands the right to dictate exactly what those religious expressions can and cannot say. In other words, you can have your little religious traditions, as long as you don’t REALLY practice them… as long as your REAL ultimate authority is the secular state.

If you think that kind of reasoning has a familiar ring to it…? You’re not wrong.