Chinese Pastor and Six Church Members Vanish After Police Raid
Pastor David Tang, founder of Wenzhou's Purpose Driven Church, also known as Biaogan Church, disappeared along with six other Christians, including a church financial administrator and five ministry workers, after a cross-provincial police operation in Shanghai on August 5. Chinese authorities have not disclosed why the seven were detained or where they are being held. Purpose Driven Church has resisted joining China's state-controlled Three-Self Patriotic Movement, and the disappearances follow an intensifying crackdown on independent Christian congregations in Wenzhou, a city with such a large Christian population it has been nicknamed China's Jerusalem.
ChinaAid president Bob Fu said Chinese authorities increasingly avoid explicitly religious or political charges against church leaders, instead relying on accusations like fraud, illegal business operations, or illegal use of information networks to suppress them without drawing the same international scrutiny. Separately, more than 20 leaders and members of a church in nearby Taishun County were arrested this year after objecting to a demand that the national flag be displayed inside the church, which was later demolished.
