The destruction of a towering church by the Chinese at the village of Pudong, part of the city of Wenzhou.
Wenzhou (China) (AFP) - The destruction of a towering church by Chinese authorities has sown fear in a thriving Christian community and highlighted tensions between a rapidly growing number of worshippers and the Communist state.
Massive slabs of concrete on a hillside were all that remained Wednesday of the Sanjiang Church after an army of excavators smashed into the building this week, following government claims it was an illegal structure.
The church stood above the village of Pudong, part of the city of Wenzhou.The metropolis has a reputation for greater leniency towards religion and is known as China's Jerusalem with more than a million Christians, as well as being a freewheeling centre of capitalism.
In Pudong, Christian households are openly marked out by posters with a red cross and a Bible verse from John: "In him was life and that was the light of men."
The church was built in part with donations from the hundreds-strong congregation.
"We are crying inside, there is nothing more to say," a middle-aged man who had been a member told AFP.
"It's gone now," added his wife. They declined to give their names for fear of reprisals by authorities.
The couple said some Christians living in the area have fled while others have been visited since the demolition by government "work teams" criticising them for their religious beliefs.
China's ruling Communist Party keeps a tight grip on religion for fear it could challenge its grip on power, requiring followers to worship in places approved by the state and under government supervision.
But the Sanjiang church was registered with the authorities, unlike "underground" or "house" churches which seek to exist outside government control.
Activists believe the demolition was part of a wider crackdown on Protestant Christians, cloaked in a campaign against structures violating building codes in Zhejiang province.
The government has ordered at least five churches in Zhejiang -- four of them in Wenzhou -- to be demolished or to remove prominent crosses from their rooftops, state media has reported.
"I suspect it is a well-orchestrated campaign in order to contain the rapid growth of Christianity," said Bob Fu, president of the China Aid Association, a US-based religious rights group.
"The deliberate wounds will take years to heal and the remaining little trust between the Chinese government and Chinese religious communities is gone," he said.
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