Chinese policeman line up for an exhibition of police equipment at a ceremony held in Beijing on May 17, 2007. (Teh Eng Koon – AFP / Getty Images)
By Michael Austin June 11, 2026 at 4:29am
Chinese authorities demolished Yazhong Church, a prominent congregation in the eastern part of the country, as part of the communist government’s ongoing crackdown on Christian worship.
Yazhong Church — also known as Yayang Church — is an unregistered Protestant church located in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, according to a May 20 report from ChinaAid.
Crews with heavy-duty construction vehicles demolished the church building from the top down starting on May 18.
By late morning on May 19, the church’s “beautiful and ornate sanctuary” had been “reduced to rubble,” ChinaAid reported.
The outlet reported that Yazhong Church has been targeted by the Chinese Communist Party for several months.
Last December — less than two weeks before Christmas — authorities arrested 103 church members in pre-dawn raids, as well as seized control of the church building.
Four more church members were arrested as the demolition was occurring. They join the ranks of 18 other congregants who were previously jailed.
A subsequent interview by ChinaAid with an unnamed source — identified only as “Mr. A” — revealed a firsthand account of the demolition.
“The atmosphere that day was extremely terrifying. The street was filled with special police and officers,” he described.
“Barricades and checkpoints were established one to two kilometers from the site, and only authorized personnel were permitted to be nearby or to take photographs.”
Mr. A said that the government used “thermal infrared imaging” to monitor activity within a two-kilometer radius.
“Days before the demolition even began, individuals working with local authorities were stationed in all the nearby high-rise buildings to monitor the area, and residents were forcibly relocated,” he recounted.
“In the past few days, heavy construction vehicles have been hauling away the rubble, trying to leave behind no trace at all.”
Mr. A said that church members are now afraid to use church WeChat groups — even hesitating to use emojis — for fear of being monitored.
The authorities on site detained people who were seen with mobile phones or suspected of taking pictures.
“Under this kind of technologically intensive surveillance, before you even have time to send a photo out, you may already be located through backend monitoring and summoned immediately,” Mr. A said.
Open Doors ranks China as 17th on its World Watch List for Christian persecution.
There are nearly 100 million Christians in the country, but the Chinese Communist Party views the faith as “a threat that must be tightly controlled and contained.”
Churches are either registered with the state — meaning they are subjected to strict oversight and forced to align with communist ideology — or they are unregistered underground churches.
“This is an enormously brave move because it can bring raids, fines, arrests, imprisonments and the confiscation of materials,” Open Doors said.
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Michael wrote for several entertainment news outlets before joining The Western Journal in 2020. He now serves as Managing Editor, which involves managing the editorial team and operations, guiding the publication’s editorial direction, and writing, editing, curating and assigning stories as needed.
Birthplace
Ames, Iowa
Nationality
American
Education
Iowa State University
Topics of Expertise
Cultural Politics, Pop Culture, Christian-Conservatism
