cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/48752727 > Yayang church, in the Wenzhou area of Zhejiang province, is one of China’s unregistered churches that emerged as an alternative to places of worship regulated and approved by Beijing. > > China’s ruling Communist Party has historically regarded organised religion with suspicion, and under President Xi Jinping, has tightened scrutiny of unofficial groups. > > The events in Wenzhou come the same week an underground church in the southwestern city of Chengdu said several of its key leaders had been detained. > > “As Beijing tightens its ideological control, unofficial churches are seen as ‘disobedient’ to the Communist Party ideology and, therefore, pay a heavy price,” Yalkun Uluyol, China researcher at Human Rights Watch, said. > > Overseas religious rights groups said the crackdown on the Protestant church in the town of Yayang began in mid-December, with reportedly around 100 members initially detained, and two dozen still in custody. > > […] > > When reporters asked one of the dozen or so guards blocking access to the building what was happening, they declined to comment and told the journalists to move on. > > Despite otherwise light security, at one point 12 SWAT officers marched briefly up and down a street near the church. > > Two locals told AFP separately they had been told filming the scaffolding was forbidden, and that a woman had been “taken away” for doing so. > > […] > > Churches and rights groups say the campaign against underground churches stepped up last year. > > […]