Pastor faces decade behind bars amid China’s anti-church campaign

A Chinese preacher is facing up to a decade in prison after he was detained on what supporters say are trumped up charges intended to weaken resistance to an ongoing crackdown targeting the country’s rapidly growing Christian community.

Huang Yizi, a Christian pastor from Zhejiang province in eastern China, was taken from his home in the city of Wenzhou by plainclothes police officers on August 2, according to activists.

The 40-year-old, who has been openly critical of an ongoing anti-church demolition campaign, is accused of “gathering to assault a state organ”, a charge lawyers say is often used to silence government critic.

The pastor’s detention came just over a week after bloody clashes between plainclothes security agents, reportedly including some armed with cattle prods, and Christians who were attempting to stop the removal of their church’s cross.

The confrontation, which took place at Salvation Church in Wenzhou – a city with a large Christian population that is sometimes referred to as China's Jerusalem – represented a major escalation in tensions over a demolition campaign that activists say has so far affected more than 200 churches.