The founder and senior pastor of a prominent unregistered house church and six other Christians were detained by police in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China on 5 August.
The whereabouts of Pastor David Tang, a church financial administrator and five church workers, all of Wenzhou’s Purpose Driven Church (also known as Biaogan Church), remain unknown and authorities have not disclosed the reasons for their detention at the time of writing.
Information regarding the detentions first emerged in an X post dated 7 August from the account Day of Prayer and Fasting for Persecuted Churches in China, which reported that officers from Shanghai police took Pastor Tang and six Christians into custody at approximately 7.30am on 5 August. The church subsequently requested prayer for those detained and stated that it continues to monitor the situation amid a lack of official information regarding their condition or location.
Purpose Driven Church is particularly noted for attracting young professionals and intellectuals according to Texas-based NGO, ChinaAid Association. The church has reportedly refused to join the government-controlled Three-Self Patriotic Movement or register with the authorities.
Wenzhou, often referred to as the “Jerusalem of China” due to its large Christian population, has long been a centre of Protestant Christianity in China. However, over the past decade authorities have intensified restrictions on independent religious communities in the city and across Zhejiang Province, including during a crackdown from 2014-2016 which saw crosses removed from more than 1,500 churches.
In June 2025 Wenzhou mayor Li Ben led a team to smash locks, forcibly erect a flagpole and raise the national flag at a meeting of Yayang Church. Over the following months church leaders and members were repeatedly summoned and threatened, and on the night of 14-15 December 2025, hundreds were held for questioning with more than 1,000 police deployed. Over 20 were subsequently arrested. and the authorities began to demolish the church building in January 2026, with the demolition complete by May.
The disappearance of Pastor Tang and his colleagues also follows a broader pattern in which Chinese authorities have increasingly targeted religious leaders through criminal or administrative measures rather than explicitly religious charges. Human rights organisations have documented numerous cases in which Protestant pastors and other religious leaders have been investigated or prosecuted on allegations relating to fraud or other financial, business or online activities.
CSW's Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: ‘We are deeply concerned at the incommunicado detention of Pastor David Tang and six other members of Purpose Driven Church in Wenzhou with no information provided regarding their whereabouts or legal status. Enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention are serious violations of international human rights standards. We urge the Chinese authorities to disclose immediately the whereabouts of these Christians, ensuring they have access to legal representation and their families, and releasing them unless credible evidence of a recognisable criminal offence is produced. No one should face detention simply for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief.’