China just conducted its largest crackdown on Christians since the Mao era, deploying over 1,000 police officers to arrest hundreds of believers in what was once called “China’s Jerusalem.” The Christmas Eve Raids That Shook China’s Jerusalem Days before Christmas 2025, Chinese authorities unleashed an unprecedented assault on Christian worship in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province. The city earned its nickname “China’s Jerusalem” for its dense Christian population, making it a prime target for Xi Jinping’s campaign to bring all religion under Communist Party control. SWAT teams, riot police, and firefighters surrounded dozens of house churches, creating scenes reminiscent of military operations rather than religious enforcement. The scale shocked even seasoned observers of Chinese religious persecution. Lin Enzhao and Lin Enci, prominent leaders of Yayang Church who had previously protested Communist Party oppression, found themselves among the hundreds detained. Their arrest sent a clear message that no level of Christian leadership would be spared in this new escalation. Demolition and Devastation Follow Mass Arrests The Christmas raids were merely the opening act. On January 8, 2026, authorities demolished Yayang Church while simultaneously conducting coordinated arrests across the country. In Chengdu, police arrested yet another pastor from Early Rain Covenant Church, a congregation that has faced relentless persecution since 2018 when its senior pastor Wang Yi received a nine-year prison sentence. Li Yingqiang, who took over leadership of Early Rain after Wang Yi’s imprisonment, had warned church members of an approaching “storm.” His prophecy proved tragically accurate as five Early Rain members, including Li himself, now remain in custody. The church’s resilience in the face of repeated raids has made it a symbol of Christian resistance to state control. Xi Jinping’s Sinicization Campaign Reaches Peak Intensity These raids represent the aggressive implementation of Xi Jinping’s 2018 Sinicization campaign, designed to align Christianity with Communist Party ideology. Under this program, churches must display Chinese flags and portraits of Xi Jinping, incorporate “Xi Jinping Thought” into sermons, and sing patriotic hymns alongside traditional worship songs. The State Administration for Religious Affairs was strategically placed under the Communist Party’s United Front Work Department, effectively ending any pretense of religious independence. The campaign targets the estimated 60 to 100 million Christians who worship in unregistered “house churches” rather than submit to the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, the state-controlled Protestant organization. These believers refuse registration precisely because it requires accepting Communist Party oversight of their faith, creating an irreconcilable conflict between religious conviction and state demands. A Pattern of Escalating Religious Persecution The Wenzhou raids cap a year of intensifying persecution that began with targeted arrests and escalated to mass detentions. Throughout 2024, authorities conducted systematic raids across multiple provinces, from Beijing’s Zion Church in October to Grace Church locations in Changsha in November. Each operation refined tactics and tested public response, building toward the massive Wenzhou operation. Global Christian Rights released its 2026 Red List on January 8, confirming China leads the world with 709 arrests and detentions of Christians. This ranking reflects not just the raw numbers but the systematic nature of persecution, with authorities weaponizing registration laws to criminalize independent worship. The timing of the report’s release, coinciding with the church demolitions, underscores how rapidly the situation continues deteriorating. Sources: ChinaAid – Summary of Christian House Church Persecution Cases in China in November 2024 Foundation for Defense of Democracies – CCP Raids Churches, Arrests Hundreds of Christians in China’s Jerusalem Baptist Press – Red List 2026: Nigeria, China, Mexico Among Top Five Persecutors of Christians International Christian Concern – China Continues Efforts to Erase Christianity from Within