General
12.11.2025 – Recruiting the Gods: China Represses Religion at Home but Weaponizes It in Taiwan
Bitter Winter – In the theater of geopolitics, China has found an unlikely star: the sea goddess Mazu. While the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues its domestic crackdown on religious freedom, it has simultaneously orchestrated a spiritual charm offensive across the Taiwan Strait—one that smells distinctly of incense and ambition.
According to a comprehensive analysis published on October 22 by Taiwan’s research center IORG (now Taiwan Information Environment Research Center, originally named Information Operations Research Group), 2024 saw China host 116 religious exchange events involving Taiwanese participants. These weren’t grassroots pilgrimages but state-backed spectacles, often promoted by the CCP’s Taiwan Affairs Office through its official media outlet.
01.11.2025 – China’s crackdown on Christians will backfire
Hudson – Beijing’s nationwide operation against Zion Church this month resembled the kind of multicity raid typically reserved for dismantling organized crime syndicates, not a response to clergy’s alleged infringements on online worship regulations.
Over the weekend of Oct. 10, Chinese police, often in plain clothes and at night, descended across 11 cities to pluck nearly 30 pastors and other church leaders from their homes and public spaces. More than 10 officers invaded the apartment building of the 56-year-old head pastor Ezra Jin — father and father-in-law of the authors — to take him into custody for “illegal use of information networks,” based on new guidance from the State Bureau of Religious Affairs. Indications suggest the beginning of a broader crackdown on Christians, and other religious communities, across China.
Protestants
11.11.2025 – Farewell to Thyatira: Why I left the Three-Self Church
Bitter Winter – As an ordinary Christian, I once believed the Three-Self Church to be a sanctuary for believers in mainland China. There, I experienced baptism, partook of the Lord’s Supper, and felt a glimmer of sacred warmth during gatherings. Each time I entered the church, my heart was filled with peace and tranquillity, knocking upon the door of faith with reverence for the unknown world.
Yet, as I delved deeper into the Scriptures and observed reality with increasing clarity, I was compelled to make a painful yet necessary decision: to depart from this “Thyatira-like” church, distorted by secular authority. The Lord Jesus’s warning to the church in Thyatira in Revelation 2:18–29: “ You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet.
08.11.2025 – Following the arrest of a House Church pastor, in a rare instance, more than a dozen legal professionals launched a collective complaint
China Aid – A group of well-known human rights lawyers from across China, together with family members of the detained pastor, jointly filed a complaint this week with the local prosecutorate and public security bureau in Beihai, Guangxi, accusing police of illegal conduct during the arrest and search process.
This collective complaint coincides with the ongoing crackdown on house churches in China. The detained pastor is Sun Cong, affiliated with the Zion Church network in Beijing. He was taken away on the evening of October 10 while leading a gathering in Huairou, Beijing. According to his family, police did not present valid identification, and his elderly mother suffered a heart attack after being shoved at the scene, but Beihai police ignored her condition.
07.11.2025 – Anhui Covenant Church case verdict: Pastor imprisoned for removing surveillance equipment
China Aid – The Covenant Church in Huainan City, Anhui Province received the verdict on Thursday (November 6). The church’s pastor and several Christians were sentenced to different prison terms on charges of “intentional destruction of property.” The case stems from the church’s opposition to government policies such as mandating the installation of surveillance devices in religious venues and the forced removal of crosses.
According to the court’s judgment, Pastor Zhao Hongliang of this church was sentenced to one year and one month in prison, with his term set to end on March 21, 2026. Brother Shang Lei of the same case was sentenced to one year in prison, with his term ending on February 13, 2026. In addition, Brother Xu Yongshui received a six-month sentence, which has already been fully served, and Brother Xu Kehong was sentenced to four months of criminal detention, and a suspended sentence of five months.
06.11.2025 – Three pastors of Xi’an Church of abundance re-arrested amid ongoing legal uncertainty
Bitter Winter – In a startling development, three Christian leaders from the Xi’an Church of Abundance—Pastor Lian Changnian, his son Pastor Lian Xuliang, and Preacher Fu Juan—were re-arrested on November 2, 2025, just months after being released to home surveillance. Their renewed detention comes even though their trial, held on July 9, has yet to reach a verdict.
This latest twist in a case that has drawn international attention underscores the precarious legal status of house churches in China and raises serious concerns about procedural justice and religious freedom.
04.11.2025 – Members of Xi’an House Church arrested again: Crime of “fraud” used once again as a legal tool to suppress religious freedom
China Aid – Pastor Lian Xuliang, Pastor Lian Changnian, and Sister Fu Juan of Xi’an Church of Abundance were arrested and detained again on November 2 by the First Branch of the Xi’an Municipal Public Security Bureau. They are once again facing the highly controversial charge of “fraud.” According to the arrest notices, the operation was approved by the Baqiao District Court of Xi’an City, and the three Christians are currently being held at the Weiyang District Detention Center in Xi’an.
03.11.2025 – Yunnan: Lisu Christian detained for organizing religious gatherings
Bitter Winter – Li Guiwen, a Lisu Christian from Yuanmou County within the Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province, has been subjected to criminal detention, formally arrested, and transferred to the local procuratorate for review and prosecution by authorities of the Yuanmou Public Security Bureau on suspicion of “organizing illegal gatherings.” His family issued a heartfelt prayer letter on October 27, 2025, urging public attention and advocating for a just resolution of his case.
According to this prayer letter, Li Guiwen was taken into custody on August 2, 2025, on charges of “organizing illegal religious activities.” He was subsequently imprisoned at the Yuanmou County Detention Center, a facility designed to hold suspects during investigation. Authorities allege that Li was involved in coordinating religious gatherings outside the official state-sanctioned venues, activities deemed illegal under current laws.
Falun Gong
13.11.2025 – 56-year-old Guangdong woman abused during five-year prison term because she practices Falun Gong
Minghui – When Ms. Yuan Yumei completed a five-year prison term in July 2025, she was emaciated and her back was hunched due to years of abuse. Once a healthy person, the 56-year-old Xingning City, Guangdong Province, resident, who was born in 1969, looked much older than her age.
The prison authorities threatened Ms. Yuan not to disclose her ordeal to the outside world. She decided to reveal what she went through during her prison term.
10.11.2025 – The persecution of Falun Gong practitioners at Wangling Prison in Hunan Province
Minghui- Wangling Prison, located in Wangling Town, Youxian County, Zhuzhou City, Hunan Province, holds male Falun Gong practitioners who have been sentenced for their faith. The guards brutally torture the practitioners in attempts to force them to renounce their belief. Many practitioners have been tortured to death as a result, and many more have become injured or disabled.
Mr. Lyu Songming (also translated as Lu Songming) and Mr. Liao Songlin passed away a few years after they were released from the prison. Mr. Cao Genshen and Mr. Lei Yangfan were on the verge of death and were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) directly from the prison. Mr. Wang Gang, Mr. Liu Xiaojun, Mr. Zeng Zhiwei, Mr. Li Zhigang and Mr. Chen Yang were also hospitalized due to torture suffered at Wangling Prison.
07.11.2025 – Liaoning: Falun Gong practitioner, 74, dies four days after release from jail
Bitter Winter – Men Yulin, a long-time Falun Gong practitioner from Dayushubao Town, Yixian County, Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, died on October 21, 2025, just four days after being released from a seven-year prison sentence. He was 74 years old.
Men began practicing Falun Dafa in January 1997, two years before the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) initiated its nationwide campaign against Falun Gong in July 1999. Like many practitioners across mainland China, he faced escalating pressure and persecution following the ban. According to sources familiar with the case, Men remained committed to his beliefs despite repeated warnings. He was arrested on April 22, 2002, released after twelve days, and kept under surveillance.
04.11.2025 – Mother and son face trial for practicing Falun Gong, both previously jailed for their faith
Minghui – A mother and son in Linghai City, Liaoning Province, were indicted because they practice Falun Gong, Minghui.org learned in late October 2025.
Ms. Lu Suping, 68, a former real estate worker, and her son Mr. Jiang Nan, 44, a tutor, were arrested at their shared residence on June 2, 2025. As soon as Mr. Jiang opened the door at 1:40 p.m. that day, three plainclothes officers rushed in and shoved him to the ground. They handcuffed him and yelled “freeze” to his mother and their two Falun Gong practitioner-guests, including Ms. Wang Yanjie, 67, and Ms. Niu Fang, 53.
