China: Pastor to Stand Trial on Bogus “Illegal Business Operations” Charge

April 22, 2026 Comments Off

Cases highlight due process concerns and restrictions on religious practice

(Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders—April 22, 2026) The Pingyang County Court in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, is scheduled to try Pastor Huang Yizi on April 24, 2026. Pastor Huang is charged with conducting “illegal business operations,” according to a court notice published by the Chinese-language website Rights Defense Network.

Pingyang County Public Security Bureau officers first detained Huang, the pastor of Fengwo Church, in June 2025, reportedly for distributing audio Bible players containing his sermons to church members. Police also detained four other church members at the same time. Authorities formally arrested Huang on July 29, 2025, and he is being held at Pingyang County Detention Center. Huang has been granted access to his lawyer, though he has not been able to send or receive letters from his family. The detention center has also reportedly restricted his access to a Bible.

Pastor Huang was previously affiliated with a state-approved church until the Wenzhou government began to demolish or remove crosses from churches in 2014. Huang opposed the forced removal of crosses from his church; in 2015, he served a one-year prison sentence for allegedly “gathering a crowd to disrupt social order.”

In a separate case in Beihai, Guangxi Province, 18 Christians affiliated with Beijing’s Zion Church congregations remain in detention, where they have been held since October 2025 on charges of “illegal use of information networks.” In March 2026, the Zion Church reported that authorities arbitrarily suspended, for six months, the law licenses of six lawyers representing its members. In addition, the Beijing Bureau of Justice revoked the license of lawyer Zhang Kai, who had served as legal counsel to the church’s founding pastor, Jin Mingri.

The charges of “illegal business operations” and “illegal use of information networks” are among several offenses—including “fraud,” “inciting subversion of state power,” and “organizing or using a cult to undermine the implementation of the law”— that authorities use to prosecute individuals engaged in religious activities.

The ongoing detentions and prosecutions of Christian house church members violate the right to freedom of religious belief, which is protected by domestic and international human rights law. Authorities should release all individuals detained for exercising their religious beliefs.

For more information, please contact:

Sophie Richardson, Co-Executive Director, Chinese Human Rights Defenders, sophierichardson[at]nchrd.org, +1 917 721 7473

Angeli Datt, Research and Advocacy Coordinator, Chinese Human Rights Defenders, angelidatt[at]nchrd.org, +1 934 444 6155

Shane Yi, Researcher, Chinese Human Rights Defenders, shaneyi[at]nchrd.org