Zhejiang Officials Demolish House Churches, Beat and Detain House Church Members

Zhejiang officials demolished a Protestant house church in Hangzhou city on July 29, beat hundreds of church members, and detained more than 50 church members, according to reports of July 31 and August 2 by the China Aid Association (CAA), a U.S. NGO that monitors religious freedom in China. Officials detained three more Hangzhou house church leaders on August 3, the CAA reported the following day. The CAA reported on August 9 that authorities released over 20 of the previously detained members, placed five others in criminal detention under charges of "interfering with the duties of a public security official," and continued to hold over 20 members without charge. Another 10 Hangzhou house church members were released and six others notified formally of their detention on criminal charges later in the month, according to an August 22 CAA report.

Zhejiang officials also demolished another house church structure in Shaoxing city, accord to the August 22 CAA report. In connection with the Hangzhou church demolition, Zan Aizong, journalist and Zhejiang bureau chief for the Beijing-based China Ocean News [Zhongguo Haiyang Bao], was dismissed from his position and briefly detained by Hangzhou public security officials after he posted reports about the demolition on overseas Web sites, according to reports of Reporters Without Borders.

The Hangzhou demolition occurred after the local government repeatedly refused to provide authorization for the house church members to build a church in the Xiaoshan district of Hangzhou, according to a Chinese House Church Alliance report posted on the CAA Web site. On July 17, the house church members began constructing a church on private property that had been purchased by house church members. The local government informed church leaders that it had other plans for developing the land and asked the house church members to cease construction. According to an August 18 New York Times article (subscription only), the church leaders were told they could build their church on a narrow triangular plot under an elevated highway. The church members resumed construction on the original site, and on July 28 the local government declared the building illegal and asked the house church members to demolish it voluntarily. On July 29, thousands of house church members were occupying the church structure when police dispersed the assembled church members, beat hundreds of them, and demolished the church.

The state-controlled Chinese press reported official claims that the Hangzhou structure was destroyed in accordance with Chinese law. Qiu Youlai, Xiaoshan district director of the United Front Work Department, the Communist Party organization that oversees religious issues, said that the church members had not obtained approval for construction of the building, which violated city planning rules, according to an August 1 People's Daily report and an August 2 Shanghai Daily report. The People's Daily and Shanghai Daily reports said that two people had been arrested in connection with the construction but did not mention any injuries.

Hangzhou house church Protestants have been at odds with the government for some time about building church structures, according to an August 1 Reuters report. According to the CAA’s August 2 report, officials have demolished over 300 house churches in Zhejiang province since 2003. In July 2003, for example, Hangzhou officials demolished approximately a dozen house churches, according to an Amnesty International report. In August 2004, officials convicted Liu Fenggang, a house church Protestant from Beijing, of "providing state secrets to foreign organizations" when he informed foreign news media about these demolitions and other repressive actions against house church Protestants, Amnesty International reported. In 2000, Zhejiang officials demolished hundreds of churches, temples, or homes where unregistered religious believers met to pray, according to a December 13, 2000, Zenit report. A June 2001 Keston News Service report documented the course of the 2000 demolition campaign.

For more information on Protestants in China, see the CECC 2005 Annual Report, Section III(d).