Police in Wenzhou, a Chinese city often referred to as “China’s Jerusalem,” raided a house church and detained founding pastor David Tang and six colleagues, whose whereabouts remain unknown.
Those detained include Tang, a financial administrator from his congregation and five ministry workers from Shanghai, according to the U.K.-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide.
Shanghai police carried out the arrests at about 7:30 a.m. Aug. 5 as part of an investigation extending across multiple provinces, Texas-based ChinaAid reported.
Tang pastors Wenzhou’s Purpose Driven Church, also called Biaogan Church, which has attracted many young professionals. The congregation is unregistered and has not joined the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, the government-controlled organization overseeing officially recognized Protestant churches.
Sources familiar with the case said authorities restricted information about the detentions and blocked related posts from appearing online.
News of the arrests emerged publicly two days later after an X account called “Day of Prayer and Fasting for Persecuted Churches in China” reported the incident. The church urged Christians to pray for those detained, saying it had received no information about their condition.
CSW President Mervyn Thomas described the case as incommunicado detention, saying Tang and the others have been denied information about their whereabouts or legal situation. He urged Chinese authorities to reveal their location, allow access to attorneys and family members, and release them unless credible evidence of criminal activity exists.
ChinaAid founder Bob Fu said the arrests reflect a broader campaign by China’s ruling Communist Party against independent churches, describing the methods as “intimidation, enforced disappearances and the misuse of criminal law.” He said authorities increasingly use criminal or financial allegations instead of explicitly political or religious charges.
Other Christian leaders in the region have faced similar restrictions. Pastor Huang Yizi of Pingyang County has been detained, Catholic Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin has endured years of restrictions, and state-recognized priest Father Ma Xianshi was jailed on a business-related charge before being released in July.
Wenzhou churches have faced government pressure in recent years. In June 2025, Mayor Li Ben entered Yayang Church and placed the Chinese flag on its flagpole, after which church leaders and members reportedly faced months of summonses and threats.
More than 1,000 police officers reportedly descended on the congregation during the night of Dec. 14–15, 2025, questioning hundreds and arresting more than 20 people after members objected to the flag being placed inside the church. Authorities began demolishing the building the following January and completed the work by May.
Protestant missionaries introduced Christianity to Wenzhou, a port city on China’s southeastern coast, during the 19th century. Christians are now estimated to account for about 10% of the city’s population.
