Leaders of house churches facing legal challenges in Anhui, Zhejiang, and Shanxi
Authorities continue to criminalize house churches that refuse to comply with official religious regulations.
Three leaders of Anhui A Kernel of Wheat Reformed Church were placed under criminal detention between July 2 and 9. Pastor Chang Shun (常顺) and Elder Ma Tao (马涛) were detained by Fuyang police for “illegal gathering.” Pastor Zhang Shen (张森) was detained in Xuzhou for unknown causes when visiting friends.He was brought back to Fuyang. Zhang’s wife claimed that she had not received notice from the police. Pastor Zhang had previously been placed in 15-day administrative detention for “praying without permission” outside a detention center in 2024. The church has faced harassment from local authorities and has publicly denounced the official “Three-Self Patriotic Movement (aka ‘Three-Self’ Church).”
Pastor Huang Yizi (黄益梓) and Pastor Li Yongfeng (李永峰) of a house church in Pingyang County, Zhejiang were formally arrested on August 3 for illegal business operation, a crime routinely used by the authorities against house churches. Huang was one of the church leaders protesting the removal of crosses by the government from 2014-2015. He was sentenced to one year imprisonment in 2015 for gathering a crowd to disturb social order. Shortly after his release, he was accused of illegally providing state secrets to an overseas entity and placed under residential surveillance in a designated place from September 2015 to February 2016. Huang and Li were detained on June 26, 2025. Four other church members were also reportedly detained for the same charge.
First detained in September 2021 and, after repeated trial postponements, Shanxi Pastor Wang Xiaoguan (王晓光) and his wife Yang Lirong (杨荣丽) of the Golden Lampstand Church were both harshly sentenced in July by the Linfen district court to nine years and seven months and 15 years, respectively. Both were convicted of fraud. The couple has served their church since 1998, but also repeatedly refused to join the Three-Self Church and run afoul of the regulations that require them to register with the local religious affairs bureau. The couple were detained in November 2009 for illegally occupying farmland and gathering a crowd to disrupt traffic. Wang was sentenced to one years’ imprisonment. The couple was again detained in August 2021 then later arrested for fraud in September. Wang and Yang were tried separately in April. Wang and Yang were also fined 100,000 yuan and 500,000 yuan, respectively.
First arrest under Macau’s National Security Law
Leading Macau democrat Au Kam-san (区锦新) was arrested for collusion with foreign forces and placed in detention on July 31, 2025. The case is the first known arrest under the city’s national security law.
Au was a teacher and a former representative of the Legislative Assembly of Macau. He is a veteran activist and participated in Macau’s June 4 vigils to remember the 1989 student movement crackdown.
In 2023, both Hong Kong and Macau attempted to push through national security legislation. However, Macau decided to postpone its own bill following the widespread protests in Hong Kong against the legislation. The law was then passed by the Legislative Assembly of Macau in January 2009. The law was revised for the first time in May 2023 and expanded to criminalize non-violent acts and speeches.
In its press release, Macau Polícia Judiciária accused Au of colluding with several overseas anti-China entities, providing false information to media for propaganda purposes, and inciting hatred from Macau residents against the central and Macau SAR governments.