“Full Scope Church” Tong-Sui Church Leader in Suizhou, Hubei, Yang Zhijin Sentenced to 3 Years and 2 Months

（Rights Defense Network Information Center report）On June 10, 2026, this website learned that on May 22, 2026, Yang Zhijin, leader of the Tong-Sui Church of the “Full Scope Church” in Suizhou, Hubei Province, was sentenced by a court to three years and two months in prison and fined 8,000 yuan for participating in cross-provincial Christian faith-sharing and clerical training, as well as assisting fellow believers in hiring lawyers. His sentence runs until May 18, 2027. He is currently being held at the Suizhou City Detention Center in Hubei Province.

Yang Zhijin’s biography: Born on February 13, 1949, also known by aliases including Yang Zhijin and Yang Zhiquan, he is from Nanyang City, Henan Province, and a resident of Shenzhuang Village, Yuehe Town, Tongbai County, Nanyang City. He is a Christian, leader of the Tong-Sui Church of the “Full Scope Church” in Suizhou, Hubei Province, a victim of the “Suizhou Church Case,” and a Chinese prisoner of conscience.

The Full Scope Church (also called the Born Again Church, and also the Way of Life Church) is a denomination of Chinese Protestant Christianity. Since it was founded in 1984 by Henan-born pastor Xu Yongze (also known as Xu Peter, who was sentenced to three years in prison by the Chinese Communist authorities in 1996 for establishing and developing churches, and after his release began residing in the United States in April 2000), it has continued to face the Chinese government’s persistent suppression and persecution of popular religious beliefs. Nevertheless, because it was the first to establish theological training and persisted in training large numbers of preachers to spread the faith throughout the country, the number of members of its denomination reached several million (some estimates put the figure at more than 10 million). During this period, as an early believer, he actively participated in church ministries after feeling called, and was appointed by Full Scope Church founder Pastor Xu Yongze as the church leader of the Tong-Sui area (that is, the Tongbai County, Henan–Suixian County, Hubei area on the border of the two provinces). Because he organized systematic church teaching, preaching, discipleship training, and “Renewing Marriage Vows” (strengthening believers’ marriage vows) training in the area under his jurisdiction, and advocated that believers provide venues for church activities such as “parent-child” activities, Easter gatherings, small groups for happiness, Communion bread-breaking, and prayer meetings, he earned the trust and praise of church believers. In recent years, however, the Chinese Communist authorities began ruthlessly suppressing “full-scope house churches” unwilling to join those controlled by the government. The Tong-Sui area church in Suizhou, Hubei Province, where he served, and another church in Suinan were both persecuted, resulting in large numbers of preachers and Christians being arrested on charges of “cult” activities. On March 19, 2024, he was suddenly arrested across provincial borders at his home in Henan by police from Zengdu District, Suizhou City, on the grounds that he had “hired lawyers for arrested church believers.” His home was searched at the same time, and personal belongings including hymnbooks, the New Testament, and a tablet computer were confiscated on the spot. On April 25 of the same year, the Zengdu District Procuratorate of Suizhou City formally approved his arrest on suspicion of “organizing or using secret societies, cult organizations, or superstitious practices to undermine the implementation of the law.” He was accused of participating in “discipleship training” and other training in Suizhou, and of having believers provide venues for various church gatherings and activities; he was therefore deemed to have “propagated cult heresies and fallacies” during the activities and should be arrested and prosecuted. On October 5 of the same year, the Zengdu District Procuratorate indicted him on suspicion of “using a cult organization to undermine the implementation of the law.” It was also learned that 28 other church workers, including Liu Xuxue, Su Ming’ai, Song Yude, and Ma Fuxiu, had been arrested and indicted at the same time as him. They were all part of the same major case, and he was designated the “principal offender.” In August 2025, his case was heard together at the Zengdu District Court of Suizhou City, but hearings were subsequently repeatedly postponed, and one more person was detained. To reduce public and media attention, the authorities secretly split the case into small cases involving two people each. In May 2026, the case involving him and the other 30 people was heard in the form of small cases involving two people each. The Zengdu District Court of Suizhou City ultimately issued first-instance verdicts, imposing sentences ranging from four years to two years and four months. On May 22, 2026, he was also sentenced by the court to three years and two months in prison and fined 8,000 yuan for participating in cross-provincial Christian faith-sharing and clerical training, as well as assisting fellow believers in hiring lawyers, on the charge of “using a cult organization to undermine the implementation of the law.” His sentence runs until May 18, 2027. He is currently being held at the Suizhou City Detention Center in Hubei Province.