Church Members Hospitalized as 200 Officials Destroy Church in China

One church has been demolished by
officials using cranes and heavy-duty
machinery as Christians in China
continue to be persecuted.
ChinaAid, a non-profit Christian
organization for the human rights of
Chinese citizens, reported that 200
communist officials stormed into
Sunzhuang Church in Henan province
on June 12.
The officials responsible for the
demolition were from the Zhengzhou
High-Tech District Ethnic and Religious
Affairs Bureau, despite not showing
legal documents.
The report by ChinaAid went on to note
that the officials threw out chairs and
additional church property.
Some church members did not fare
well upon apprehension by officials.
One woman was hospitalized after
being knocked unconscious by officials
who pushed her to the ground.
Similarly, another woman was also
taken to the hospital after officials beat
her.
One male church member had also
been arrested. The church was then
demolished following the raid, the
report asserts.
Sunzhuang Church had been a part of
China’s branch of government-run
churches since the early 1990s. The
Christian Post reported that the church
had also joined the Three-Self Patriotic
Movement in June 2012, as they were
permitted by the communist
government to construct a brand new
church building.
Then in June 2013, Sunzhuang Church
was issued a demolition notice by the
Sunzhuang Village Committee because
congregants failed to comply with the
designated church construction
protocol.
But the church gave evidence to the
committee that they had the
government’s approval beforehand.
Nevertheless, officials went to cut off
the church’s water and electricity while
throwing rocks and dirt at the church’s
doorway. But the Christians
successfully stood their ground in
preventing a complete demolition.
China is currently ranked 23 on Open
Doors’ World Watch List as one of the
countries where Christians face the
worst persecution.
As Christian Headlines previously
reported, crosses from more than 250
churches were forcibly removed by the
Chinese communist government.
The 2020 annual report by the USCIRF
noted that youth ages 18 and under
were banned by authorities from
partaking in religious services.
Additionally, the South China Morning
Post reported that as a part of a
poverty relief program, local officials
asked Christians to remove images of
Jesus Christ and replace them with
portraits of President Xi Jinping. The
initiative’s end goal is to “transform
believers in religion into believers in the
party.”
Regional manager for the International
Christian Concern in Southeast Asia,
Gina Goh, noted that the Chinese
government had restarted its ongoing
crackdown on Christianity after the
number of COVID-19 cases began to
decline.
“In recent weeks, we have seen an
increased number of church
demolitions and cross removals on
state-sanctioned churches across
China, as house church gatherings
continue to face interruption and
harassment,” Goh said.
“It is deplorable that the local
authorities not only conducted this raid
without proper procedure but deployed
excessive use of force against church
members and bystanders,” she added.