International Christian nonprofit organization ChinaAid reported the alleged harassment of a former Chinese house church leader now living in the Dallas area.
According to the report, Zhang Mei, a former volunteer lay leader at underground house churches in Yueyang, Hunan Province, in south-central China, received recurrent threatening phone calls from Chinese authorities urging her to return to China.
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Zhang told ChinaAid the calls also targeted her daughter, 27-year-old Li Dixuan, who is in the United States on a student visa. Both Li and her mother have applied for asylum in the United States. Li and her husband, Nathan Clemetson, are members of Nations Church Arlington in the Dallas area.
Authorities have also contacted Zhang’s husband, who remains in China. According to Zhang, state security officials have made similar inquiries to him.
Church members and acquaintances familiar with the family’s circumstances have advised Zhang and Li against returning to China, citing concerns they could face significant legal repercussions and threats to their personal safety.
In the report, ChinaAid President Rev. Dr. Bob Fu said: “This case demonstrates that the Chinese Communist Party’s campaign against independent Christians no longer stops at China’s borders. No family seeking safety in the United States should have to fear harassment from a foreign government.”
Separately, in a YouTube interview, Li’s husband Clemetson, a U.S. citizen, stated his wife filed a petition for withholding of removal to avoid deportation to China.
Calls follow police raids, new legislation
The harassment comes days after police carried out coordinated raids on several house churches in Yueyang, where Zhang served as a volunteer lay leader before relocating to the United States. Chinese police coordinated raids across Yueyang at approximately 7:40 p.m. Beijing time on July 11.
Those reportedly detained included Pastor Huang Shi Tou, Elder Yang Jianjun, Teacher Yuan Shiying, church coworkers, numerous congregants, and children and teenagers participating in church activities. Several congregants who were later released said police questioned them for hours before releasing them, with some not freed until about 3 a.m. Beijing time on July 12.
The harassment also follows the implementation of China’s new law on “Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress,” a sweeping national statute that codifies the Chinese Communist Party’s shift toward aggressive assimilation of its 55 recognized ethnic minorities.
The law aims to forge a single, shared Chinese national identity, and authorizes authorities to take action against conduct they deem harmful to “ethnic unity and progress,” raising concerns among religious freedom advocates. Passed on March 12, 2026, and enacted on July 1, the law has drawn severe criticism from international bodies, including the United Nations and the European Parliament.
Highly controversially, Article 63 asserts extraterritorial power, giving the Chinese government the legal right to penalize individuals and organizations outside of China who are deemed to undermine “ethnic unity.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Faith Pratt and originally published by Baptist Standard.
