by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent
HUBEI, CHINA (Worthy News) – Nearly 30 Christians in China’s Hubei province are on trial after being accused of organizing and using an “evil cult to undermine law enforcement,” charges rights advocates say are part of ongoing persecution of believers in the Communist-run nation.
The defendants, members of the evangelical Word of Life Church, were indicted in Suizhou city after security forces broke up a prayer meeting earlier this year, Worthy News learned. They stand accused of so-called “xie jiao,” the Chinese term for “cult activities” applied to movements regarded as antigovernment and socially dangerous, including evangelical groups.
Authorities cited activities such as preaching, discipleship training, prayer meetings, Easter celebrations, communion, and testimonies—practices prosecutors labeled “propaganda of cult doctrines,” according to sources familiar with the case.
Defense lawyers insist the charges have no legal basis and “violate China’s constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.” They stressed that widely used discipleship materials, including No Longer the Same, New Life, and The Path of Discipleship, were “wrongly classified as evidence of cult activity.”
Several Christians testified that money, jewelry, and belongings disappeared during their arrests, with no official confiscation records provided, raising suspicions of private appropriation by authorities, said advocacy group ChinaAid.
“Imagine the door bursting open during your quiet prayer meeting in Suizhou, Hubei—authorities storming in, handcuffs clinking as they label your faith a cult,” ChinaAid told Worthy News.
‘TWISTED EVIDENCE’
“Cherished discipleship resources like No Longer the Same are twisted as evidence of heresy, while seized cash and jewelry vanish without a trace,” the group noted.
The church’s pastor, Zhao Tianen, promoted a “Three Transformations” concept encouraging Christians to serve society, but authorities labeled it a potential threat to public order. Even the church’s marriage counseling services were accused of having “improper motives.”
The case remains ongoing, but observers say it highlights China’s tightening crackdown on independent Christian groups. On Christmas Day 2024, prosecutors in Tibet charged another 10 Word of Life members, while five leaders of the related Shenyang Kelta Youth Fellowship—Pastor Mingdao, Brother Wang Xiangchao, Brother Shao, Sister Liu, and Sister Gu—also face prosecution, ChinaAid stressed.
The indictment list of 28 believers shared with Worthy News included Christians identified as Liu Xuxue, Su Minkai, Wang Xueli, Zhou Xiaoxuan, Zhang Manli, Chen Chuanzhen, Yang Pingping, Li Zhuanyun, Ren Jianhua, Qiu Huiming, Song Yude, Ma Fuxiu, Fanin Ji Hongyan, Xang Ji Hongyan, Wang Yiqin, Zhang Daojiang, Wang Daozhou, Li Jing, Cai Wu, Yang Zhijin, Tang Shunqiang, Hu Junling, Liu Yongshan, Yang Hengqin, Guo Mingjun, and Zhou Xiunong.
China is consistently ranked among the world’s worst violators of religious liberty. On the annual World Watch List of the advocacy group Open Doors, China appears in the top 20 countries where it says Christians face the most persecution.
Open Doors cites surveillance technology, forced church closures, detentions, and repressive “sinicization” policies that attempt to bring Christianity under Communist Party control as key reasons for China’s high ranking.
Despite reported persecuted, the Christian faith continues to spread in China with at least nearly 100 million people identifying as Christians, according to Open Doors researchers. Other sources say the real figure may be as high as 130 million Christians among a population of 1.4 billion people.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
Israeli officials are preparing to brief President Donald Trump on new military options against Iran when he meets later this month with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, amid growing concern that Tehran is rapidly rebuilding its ballistic missile program and restoring damaged air defenses, according to an NBC News exclusive citing a person with direct knowledge of the plans and multiple former U.S. officials.
Israel, Greece, and Cyprus have agreed to accelerate a long-discussed regional energy and security partnership, pledging deeper cooperation amid rising instability in the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean.
The United States has seized another crude oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, marking the second such operation in less than two weeks as President Donald Trump intensifies pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his government.
Ukraine’s military says it is attempting to halt a Russian incursion into a border village in the northeastern Sumy region, even as diplomatic efforts continue to seek an end to the nearly four-year war.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for “peaceful coexistence” as his nation marked the first anniversary of a deadly car-ramming attack at a Christmas market in eastern Germany that revived a debate about the influx of migrants from mainly Muslim countries.
With Christmas approaching, a Christian worker and his family have fled a brick kiln in Pakistan where they were effectively held in modern-day slavery by their Muslim employer, amid continuing concerns over the safety of Christian girls in the mainly Islamic nation, investigators told Worthy News.
Jerusalem will host a high-level trilateral summit on Monday as Israel, Greece, and Cyprus move to deepen security, energy, and strategic cooperation amid growing concern over Turkey’s expanding military posture in the eastern Mediterranean.