Chinese Government Crackdown on Christian Churches (2000–2025)

Over the past quarter century, China’s Communist Party has waged a sweeping campaign to bring Christianity under state control. From shuttering unregistered “house churches” to imprisoning prominent pastors like Wang Yi and Jin Mingri, the government has used new laws and digital surveillance to suppress independent worship. Under Xi Jinping’s “Sinicization” policy, churches are forced to align with Party doctrine—or face closure, prosecution, and censorship. The escalating arrests between 2023 and 2025 mark the most coordinated nationwide crackdown in decades, drawing international condemnation and raising urgent questions about religious freedom in China.