Religious persecution and issues – Bimonthly Digest September 01-15
Buddhists
15.09.2025 – Tsang Monastery: one Tibetan monk arrested, a leader commits suicide
Bitter Winter – In the highlands of Qinghai Province, nestled in the rugged terrain of Tongde County, Tsang Monastery once stood as a beacon of Tibetan Buddhist spiritual resilience and cultural continuity. Today, it is a symbol of something far darker: the systematic dismantling of Tibetan religious life under Chinese rule. The recent arrest of Geshe Zega Gyatso, the long-standing surveillance of his brother Khedrub Gyatso, and the tragic suicide of the monastery’s managing director, Geshe Shersang Gyatso, form a harrowing triad of repression that demands global attention.
This is not merely a story of three Tibetan dissidents. It is the story of a people whose faith is being criminalized, whose leaders are being broken, and whose sacred spaces are being transformed into instruments of ideological control.
09.09.2025 – A voice silenced: Tulku Palden Wangyal dies in Chinese custody
Bitter Winter – The mountains we call home have long echoed with chants of compassion and wisdom. But today, they mourn. It has been sadly confirmed that on July 19, 2025, Tulku Palden Wangyal, the revered Head Lama of the Choegyal Monasteries in Gonjo (Ch. Gongjiue) County, Tibet, died in a Chinese prison after years of brutal torture and isolation. He was 53.
His death is not an isolated tragedy—it is a piercing reminder of the systematic repression that continues to suffocate Tibetan religious and cultural life under Chinese rule.
The Church of Almighty God
05.09.2025 – The transnational repression of The Church of Almighty God. 5.
Bitter Winter – The CCP persistently interferes and pressures to extradite CAG members. Those who return to China for various reasons are often detained upon entry, subjected to torture, prolonged interrogations, and forced “transformation,” with some still missing today. One CCP police officer explicitly told an arrested CAG member, who later reported his words to “Bitter Winter”: “The state is now tracking all CAG members who have gone abroad. Once found, they must be deported back, and upon return, it’s not just imprisonment…”
(7.1) Targeted Arrests: The Case of Xiaoli
As “Bitter Winter” reported, CAG member Xiaoli (a pseudonym) was denied asylum in Italy. Unable to work legally or afford medical treatment because of illness, she was compelled to go back to China. She was arrested immediately upon arrival, then subjected to torture and violent “persuasion.”
Catholics
15.09.2025 – China’s new Catholic bishop ordains his auxiliary
ucanews – A Catholic bishop ordained his auxiliary in a diocese in China’s Hebei province two days after he became bishop with the approval of the Vatican and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), says a report.
Bishop Joseph Wang Zhengui of the newly erected Diocese of Zhangjiakou officiated the ordination ceremony of Joseph Ma Yan’en, 65, on Sept. 12, Vatican’s Fides news agency reported.
The auxiliary bishop was also reportedly approved according to the recently renewed but secretive Vatican-China agreement on bishop appointments.
Falun Gong
14.09.2025 – Four Sichuan residents sentenced to prison for practicing Falun Gong
Minghui – Four residents of Dazhu County, Sichuan Province were sentenced to prison for their faith in Falun Gong.
Ms. Peng Zuyin, 61, was sentenced to four years with a 10,000-yuan fine. Ms. Yu Shenghua, 56, was given two and a half years with a 5,000-yuan fine. Ms. She Xingmin was sentenced to two years and three months with a 4,000-yuan fine. Ms. Luo Fuqiong, 58, was given two years but was allowed to serve her time outside of prison. She was also fined 3,000 yuan.
Ms. Yu, Ms. She and Ms. Luo were arrested on the evening of October 13, 2024, while talking to people about Falun Gong at a public plaza. Ms. Peng was arrested the next afternoon, after she hosted a study session of Falun Gong teachings at her rental place. The police raided her home and confiscated her printer and other items. Her three guests, Ms. Zhang Zhanping, 62, Ms. Li Zhongju, and Ms. Liu Yuanbi, were also arrested.
11.09.2025 – After enduring two decades of arrests and harassment, 70-year-Old Woman Faces Indictment for Practicing Falun Gong
Minghui – A 70-year-old woman in Pingdu City, Shandong Province, is facing indictment because she practices Falun Gong.
Ms. Zhang Yuemei was arrested on June 3, 2025 by officers from the Zhugou Town Police Station because she talked to people about Falun Gong. She was taken to the Pudong Detention Center in Jimo City that day and has been held there since. The police submitted her case to the local procuratorate on August 26, 2025. Another practitioner, Ms. Yu Xiuzhi, 70, who was arrested with Ms. Zhang, also faces indictment.
Ms. Zhang, an elementary school teacher, began practicing Falun Gong in the winter of 1996. Her many ailments, such as depression, tracheitis, and liver disease, soon disappeared. Since the Chinese Communist Party ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, she has been repeatedly targeted for upholding her faith.
06.09.2025 – Two women suffer severe health problems due to the abuse in Ningxia women’s prison
Bitter Winter – Two Falun Gong practitioners developed severe physical conditions after being tortured at the Ningxia Women’s Prison.
Ms. Xin Linyuan, a 72-year-old retired accountant in Yinchuan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, was arrested on May 15, 2022 but was released on bail due to her poor health. She was sentenced to two years and fined 10,000 yuan on July 4, 2024. Her appeal was rejected on September 9 that year. Weeks later she was taken back into custody and sent to the Ningxia Women’s Prison. She developed severe heart symptoms after being imprisoned for just one year.
Ms. Yang Jie, 55, of Zhongwei City, was arrested on October 24, 2020 and was sentenced to six years on May 6, 2023. She was transferred to the Ningxia Women’s Prison in late August 2023. In order to force her to renounce her faith, the prison guards kept her in a damp, cold chamber which had water seeping from the ground. There was no bed and she had to sit, stand, and lie on the wet floor. She was later diagnosed with breast cancer and had her right breast removed in July 2025.
Protestants
12.09.2025 – Justice denied again: Hohhot Christians’ appeal trial upholds harsh sentences
Bitter Winter – On September 11, 2025, the Hohhot Intermediate People’s Court in Inner Mongolia upheld the original verdicts against ten Christian believers convicted of “illegal business operations” for distributing legally published Bibles. This decision reaffirms the controversial ruling first handed down in November 2024, which sentenced the group to prison terms ranging from one to nearly five years, along with heavy fines.
The case, which “Bitter Winter” has followed closely in previous articles, centers on Wang Honglan and nine fellow Christians who purchased Bibles printed with government authorization in Nanjing and resold them at a loss through their house church. Despite the absence of profit and the evangelistic nature of their actions, authorities deemed their activities criminal because they operated outside the state-sanctioned Three-Self Church.
12.09.2025 – Zion Church in Shuangliao city, Jilin China is banned
China aid – Local authorities in Northeast China have recently banned a church organization known as “Zion Church,” citing its lack of registration and accusing it of conducting unauthorized activities in the name of a social organization and suspecting it of violating national laws and regulations.
On June 24, the Shuangliao City Civil Affairs Bureau issued a notice stating that “Zion Church” had not registered with the relevant authorities in charge and had unlawfully carried out activities in the name of a social organization, thus constituting an illegal social organization. The notice specified that the decision was made in accordance with Article 32 of the Regulations on the Registration and Administration of Social Organizations and Article 3 of the Measures for the Banning of Illegal Social Organizations.
“Upon review, it has been decided that this organization is to be banned in accordance with the law,” the notice read.
12.09.2025 – A pastor in Zhejiang is detained for selling Bible audio players. Families urge to his health condition
China Aid – In an environment of increasingly tightened government control over religious activities in China, a preacher in Zhejiang Province has been detained on suspicion of “illegal business operations,” his case drawing concern from the outside world.
Preacher Li Yongfeng has been held at Wenzhou Pingyang Detention Center since June 26. Authorities have not released the specifics of the accusation. However, according to his family, the case stems from his involvement in the non-profit sale of Bible audio players, an act deemed illegal in China. The publication and distribution of the Bible is strictly monopolized by the state, and any unapproved sale or act of distribution may be prosecuted as illegal business operations.
Li Yongfeng, together with Pastor Huang Yizi from Pingyang, Wenzhou, has been implicated in such charges. Authorities classify tools purely for the spreading of faith as criminal offenses. Such cases have been misused as instruments to suppress religious figures and activities.
08.09.2025 – Hunan: The tragic death of Pastor Zhao Huaiguo
Bitter Winter – On September 5, 2025, Pastor Zhao Huaiguo—founder of the Bethel Church in Cili County, Hunan—died suddenly in his early fifties. His passing was not merely a personal tragedy, but the culmination of years of state-sanctioned harassment, intimidation, and psychological torment.
Zhao Huaiguo was no ordinary pastor. In 2007, he moved from Northeast China to the rural outskirts of Hunan, where he established the Bethel Church—a haven for elderly believers and those seeking spiritual refuge outside the confines of the CCP-controlled Three-Self Church. His refusal to submit to government oversight was not an act of defiance, but a principled stand for religious autonomy. For this, he paid dearly.
05.09.2025 – Chinese Court upholds harsh sentences against underground church leaders, drawing international attention.
China Aid – An intermediate people’s court in Shanxi Province recently rejected an appeal, and it upheld heavy sentences against several members of a well-known underground church, which includes a 15-year prison term for the female founder. The verdict was announced abruptly on August 15 and has sparked widespread criticism from human rights observers and legal professionals, who believe the case highlights Beijing’s tightening crackdown on unregistered Christian churches.
Pastor Wang Xiaoguang, co-founder of Linfen Golden Lampstand Church, and his wife, Yang Rongli, were convicted of “fraud” earlier this year. The accusations were primarily based on the church’s acceptance of offerings and donations. Despite the vigorous defense mounted by a team of more than ten Christian lawyers, the Linfen Intermediate People’s Court upheld the original ruling: Wang Xiaoguang was sentenced to 9 years and 7 months in prison plus a fine of 100,000 yuan, while Yang Rongli received the heaviest penalty, a 15-year prison term and a fine of 500,000 yuan (approximately 70,000 USD).
