Religious persecution and issues – Bimonthly Digest August 16-30
General
29.08.2025 – “Little Guardians”: China’s campaign to mold children into anti-religious crusaders
Bitter Winter – In a disturbing display of state-sponsored indoctrination, the Chinese government has once again turned its propaganda machine toward the youngest and most impressionable members of society. In a series of summer activities in Shanghai’s Baoshan District, children were trained to become “little guardians” of the community—armed not with curiosity or compassion, but with slogans and scripts designed to vilify “illegal” religious groups labeled as xie jiao (often translated as “evil cults” but meaning “organizations spreading heterodox teachings”). Earlier this summer, in the Baoshan District, children had already been mobilized to distribute anti-xie-jiao flyers.
22.08.2025 – Mobilizing children for ideological battles: a dangerous game in China’s anti–religious campaign
Bitter Winter – In a troubling display of state-sponsored indoctrination, a recent article published on the official Chinese anti- “xie jiao” website celebrates the mobilization of children in a propaganda campaign targeting “illegal religion” and groups labeled as “xie jiao”—a term the Chinese government translates as “evil cults.” However, scholars argue that the more accurate rendering is “groups promoting heterodox teachings.”
The event, held in the Baoshang District of Shanghai, featured children performing skits, reciting slogans, and participating in themed activities designed to instill fear and hostility toward religious minorities and spiritual movements deemed unacceptable by the state. The coverage is celebratory, describing the campaign as a “colorful summer gift” for youth—yet beneath the cheerful language lies a deeply unsettling reality.
Falun Gong
26.08.2025 – The unyielding silence: an 87-year-old Falun Gong practitioner was imprisoned in Harbin
Bitter Winter – In a country where the elderly are traditionally revered, the image of an 87-year-old man being hauled into a detention van—his frail body lifted by police officers, his dignity folded into a bureaucratic file—feels like a rupture in the moral fabric. But in Heilongjiang Province, China, this is not a metaphor. It is the fate of Zhao Yungu, a retired factory worker from Bin County, near Harbin, and longtime practitioner of Falun Gong, who was sentenced to three and a half years in prison in August 2024. Forcibly loaded into an ambulance and taken to medical examination, Zhao was imprisoned in Harbin’s Xinkang Prison on August 8, 2025.
Zhao’s story is not new, nor is it anomalous. It is a quiet echo of a decades-long campaign against Falun Gong. Since the Chinese Communist Party banned the movement in 1999, thousands have been detained, tortured, and “re-educated.” But Zhao’s case—his age, his persistence, and the sheer absurdity of imprisoning a man nearing ninety—demands a renewed reckoning.
24.08.2025 – Incapacitated woman carried away from home by police and secretly sentenced to six years in prison
Minghui – Several police officers broke into the home of a 67-year-old bedridden woman on January 3, 2024, and removed her from her bed. Her family was kept in the dark of her situation until recently, when they received a notice saying that she had been admitted to prison on July 21, 2025, to serve a six-year term for her faith in Falun Gong.
The wrongful conviction of Ms. Li Shulian, a retired lecturer from the Yan’an City Healthcare School in Shaanxi Province, stemmed from an earlier arrest on December 15, 2019, while she was distributing informational materials about Falun Gong in Yulin City, north of Yan’an. After three months at the Yulin City Detention Center, she fell into critical condition and was released on bail.
19.08.2025 – Falun Gong repression intensifies: practitioner Yao Jiaxiu sentenced to five years
Bitter Winter – 58-year-old Yao Jiaxiu, a longtime practitioner from Panzhihua City, Sichuan Province, was sentenced on August 1, 2025, to five years in prison and fined 20,000 yuan by the Xichang City People’s Court. Her sentence will run until September 20, 2029.
Yao’s case is emblematic of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) relentless persecution of Falun Gong adherents. Born in December 1967, Yao has endured over two decades of state-sponsored brutality for her spiritual beliefs. She was previously sentenced to three years in 2001 and nine years in 2006, suffering prolonged torture during her incarceration.
16.08.2025 – Tortured to blindness during 4.5-year prison term, Hubei man detained in senior center after release
Minghui – After Mr. Shan Furong finished serving a 4.5-year wrongful prison term on July 5, 2025, the local authorities took him straight to a senior center and didn’t allow him to go home, even after he had become completely blind due to torture in custody.
Mr. Shan, around 60 and of Laohekou City, Hubei Province, was arrested on January 5, 2021, while distributing informational materials about Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been targeted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999. His family was kept in the dark of his case status. They didn’t learn of his secret prison sentence until July 2023. They were also devastated to know that he had become blind in both eyes after being tortured at the Fanjiatai Prison (located in Shayang County in Hubei Province).
Protestants
30.08.2025 – The case of pastor Sun Chenghao from Zhangye, Gansu, go to trial. Family denies “illegal border crossing” charge and calls for lawful proceedings.
China Aid – Pastor Sun Chenghao, a house church pastor in Zhangye City, Gansu Province, has been detained since December 15, 2023, on charges of “organizing illegal border crossings.” The case is scheduled for a public court hearing on August 22, 2025.
According to his family member Jin Hua, Pastor Sun Chenghao had traveled to Jeju Island, South Korea, a visa-free destination for Chinese citizens, and the entire entry and exit process was through official customs, involving no acts of “illegal crossing”. She believes the case is an apparent miscarriage of justice and hopes the court will conduct an independent and fair trial according to the law.
30.08.2025 – Shanxi Linfen second trial, day of the verdict: Preacher Li Jie of Convenant house church briefly appears at detention center, wife sees and calls out to him on the spot
China Aid – This morning, Li Jie, preacher of Shanxi Linfen Covenant Home Church, and church member Han Xiaodong briefly appeared at a detention center in Linfen City. According to their families, the day marked the second trial verdict, and during the transfer by court personnel, family members caught a distant glimpse of the two at the entrance and briefly interacted.
Li Jie’s wife, Sister Li Shanshan, said that upon learning it was the day of the verdict, she and Han Xiaodong’s wife, Sister Chen Ying, rushed to the detention center and brought clothing for their husbands, hoping for a chance to meet them.
“Although we did not receive any court notice, we were still willing to wait at the entrance,” Li Shanshan said.
29.08.2025 – “Do not be sad, rejoice”: Pastor Wang Xiaoguang’s message from prison encourages christians
China Aid – Recently, Pastor Wang Xiaoguang, a leader of a house church in Linfen, Shanxi, conveyed a deeply moving message through his lawyer while facing persecution from authorities. His son, Brother Wang Yunxiang, relayed the message to the public. The words reflect Pastor Wang’s steadfastness towards faith and spiritual perspective on suffering, bringing encouragement and comfort to many Christians.
Brother Wang Yunxiang said he had specifically asked the lawyer to inquire about his father’s thoughts on the persecution he was enduring. Pastor Wang Xiaoguang’s response was as follows:
“Persecution has existed since ancient times. The author of The Pilgrim’s Progress was sentenced to twelve years; I cannot compare myself to him, but the Heavenly Father has made it clear to me: this persecution is to bless the hearts of many. Do not be sad, rejoice, for this blessing far surpasses the present suffering.”
25.08.2025 – Appeal verdict confirms harsh sentences for Golden Lampstand Church leaders
Bitter Winter – On August 15, 2025, the Linfen Intermediate People’s Court in Shanxi Province upheld the first-degree verdict against several members of the Golden Lampstand Church, confirming lengthy prison sentences and substantial fines for leaders and co-workers of the well-known Christian house church. The decision marks a significant moment in China’s ongoing crackdown on religious groups operating outside the state-sanctioned framework.
The appeal verdict, announced at 9 a.m. local time, reaffirms the original sentences handed down in June 2025, which included prison terms ranging from one year and ten months to nine years and two months, primarily on charges of “fraud” — a legal instrument increasingly used to suppress unregistered religious activity. Among those sentenced are prominent church figures such as Brother Li Shuangping, who received nine years and two months, and Sister Li Qin, who was sentenced to five years and seven months.
15.08.2025 – Chinese pastor from Shenyang arrested on “cult” charges, highlighting challenges to religious freedom
China Aid – A lawyer stated on Tuesday that police in Shenyang, a city in northeast China, have arrested five Christians, four of whom have been released on bail, while one pastor remains in detention. The case has raised renewed concerns over religious freedom in China and highlighted the growing challenges faced by house churches.
According to lawyer Zhang Kai, police in Kangping County, Shenyang City, arrested five members of the Sai Er Te Young Adults Fellowship on June 29 under the charge of “using a cult organization to undermine the implementation of the law.” According to information provided by family members and the church, those arrested include Pastor Qu (known among members as Pastor Mingdao), Wang Xiangchao, Hua Xuan, and two women referred to as Sister Liu and Sister Gu. Lawyer Zhang noted that all except Pastor Qu have been granted bail pending further investigation.
