On the evening of January 11, 2023, Nangang Church, covering an area of 1.33 acres, was forcibly demolished in Nangang Village, Feiyun Street, Ruian City, and Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, in order to build commercial houses.
The Nangang Church, worth tens of millions of RMB, was torn down after the church did not agree with the local government’s compensation plan, in which the legal area was acknowledged while the illegal building area was about seven times larger, according to the Chinese Christian Fellowship of Righteousness.
In the end, there was no way to make a deal, so anti-riot police tore down the church at night. Local people revealed that about 500 people came, and a large crane worked for several hours, lasting from nighttime to daytime the next day.
A pastor in Wenzhou explained the details of the demolition. The main building of the church had three floors and could accommodate more than 2,000 people. Around 2003 or 2004, the church members who were not very aware of the law purchased rural land to build the church, which covered an area of 1.33 acres with a construction area of 6,900 square meters while the legal area was only 980 square meters.
In Wenzhou's most recent demolition compensation plan, the government offered to pay more than ten million dollars based on the legal construction area of the church. However, the church wanted to get more compensation, but the government was unwilling to pay. The two parties had been negotiating for two or three years, and their official leaders had changed many times, but they failed to come to an agreement.
There are historical contexts for such occurrences. More than 20 years ago, the policy for building churches was relatively loose. Church members found contacts and communicated with the leaders of the village committee; generally, they could get acquiescence in building churches.
Therefore, most churches in Wenzhou violated some regulations for church buildings. But since 2014, the rules for standardizing land use in many cities have become stricter, and illegal land use in many fields, including churches, has been checked more closely. Because of this, strict investigations of illegal land use by churches are very hard for them.
In addition, the thing that happened is also related to the growth of commercial land after urban development. When the demolition funds can't be negotiated, which has happened in Protestant, Catholic, and other historical and cultural religious lands, many buildings are torn down by force. This is done to help developers. The most typical case is that in August 2022, the 200-year-old Taiyuan Beihan Catholic Church, known as Taiyuan “Notre Dame de Paris," was demolished in the urban village renovation. This exposes the problem of how to deal with old buildings when building new cities.
How to deal with these historical old churches with cultural relic significance and the legacy of the church’s illegal use of land due to historical reasons more than 20 years ago are issues that all sectors of society, including authorities, developers, and religious groups, need to face and discuss. Sadly, there aren't many good examples so far. Solutions vary a lot from place to place, but most old buildings and churches could be torn down by the government.
温州瑞安南南港教堂被强拆，凸显商业用地对教堂用地的影响
2023年1月11晚，为建商业房，浙江省温州市瑞安市飞云街道南港村强制拆除占地8亩的南港教堂。
南港教堂价值几千万人民币，之所以被强拆的原因是一方面违建面积是合法的大约七倍，一方面教堂不同意赔偿方式。
最终，在赔偿方案未谈拢的情况下，当地派出大量防暴警察在夜里强拆。据当地人介绍说，强拆教堂当晚，去了500人左右，大吊车持续工作数小时，强拆从头天夜里持续到次日白天。
一位温州的牧师介绍说：该教堂主堂有三层，可容纳2000多人。大约2003-2004年的时候，教会的人法律意识不太强，购买了农村的土地用来建堂，此教堂占地8亩，建筑面积6900平方米，但合法面积只有980平方米。
目前是按照老教堂的面积来赔偿，按照温州市最新拆迁赔偿方案，合法面积的1.2倍，总计1170平方米，只赔偿1000多万。双方已经谈判两三年；但双方谈不到一块儿，教会希望多给赔偿金，政府部门不愿意给，领导也换了多次。
出现此现象和历史原因有关，一方面大约20多年前，当时政策比较宽松，找找关系，跟村委会的领导沟通一下，基本上也能够得到默许。故此，温州的教堂大多存在违章现象。但自2014年之后，各地对于规范用地的要求提高，对各领域的违章用地查的比较严，包括教堂。因此，在严查违章用地中，教堂面临的挑战很大。
同时，也和不少城市发展后商业用地增长有关，这与开发商等不少方面的实际相关，因此很多走到拆迁款谈不拢就出现强拆的现象。这在新教、天主教和其他具有历史文化的宗教用地上都出现过案例。最为典型的就是2022年8月，被称为太原巴黎圣母院、具有200年历史的太原北寒天主教堂在城中村改造中被拆毁。这暴露了如何处理建设新城的时候如何处置老建筑的问题。
如何处理这些具有文物意义的历史老教堂，以及如何处理20多年前因为历史原因带来的教堂违章用地遗留问题，而非使用激进的方式，是给当下社会的各界，包括当局、开发商和宗教团体需要面对和讨论的问题。遗憾的是，到目前为止，没有很多良好的案例。各地处理的差异性很大，大部分老建筑和教堂都面临着强拆的处境。
处理比较好的是山西忻州百年福音堂活动2011年时有类似的遭遇。该教堂是由英国浸礼会传教士李提摩太于1900年建立，当年这里有8名传教士为了传扬耶稣被义和团所杀。因其历史价值也是重要的文物。后来，1970年代被忻州纺织厂（现名云河集团公司）占据，并于以650万元的价格将此地卖给五台山普寿寺。2011年2月29日（正月十九日），普寿寺主持率四百多僧众举行开土动工洒净活动，宣告投资8800万元的五福清泰安养园正式启动。即这一处基督教老教堂因商业用地被改为佛教养老园。有基督徒在微博发出求助后，引起国内外十六名著名学者、文化姐人士连署发表了《关于建立“忻州记忆”中国近代史遗迹主题文化公园的建议书》，也得到了各方人士的积极支持与响应。在各方努力下，该老教堂被保存下来。2011年7月12日，《环球时报》英文版发表刘栋文章《恢复忻州百年堂的努力》 （Attempting a resurrection， Global Times ，July 12, 2011 19:07 By Liu ）曾对保护忻州福音堂事件予以报道。
但这样的案例之所以成功，与忻州百年福音堂在基督教的历史地位，以及主流文化界的援手、较为开放的媒体环境和社会环境有关。2014年之后，自温州拆十字架事件之后，不少遭遇类似困境的教堂都受制于严查非法用地和商业开发等环境，结果是同意赔偿方案和搬迁，或者不同意而被强拆。
A good case is the Shanxi Xinzhou Centennial Gospel Church issue that happened in 2011. Timothy Richard, a British Baptist missionary, started the church in 1900. Eight missionaries were killed here by the Boxers for preaching about Jesus, so the church became an important cultural relic because of its history. This church was occupied by Xinzhou Textile Factory (now named Yunhe Group Company) in the 1970s and was sold to Pushou Temple in Mount Wutai for 6.5 million yuan by the factory. On February 29, 2011, which was the 19th day of the first lunar month, the presiding officer of Pushou Temple led more than 400 monks in ground-breaking and sanctification ceremonies. He then announced that the Wufuqing Tai'an Nursing Home, which cost 88 million yuan to build, was open for business.
The old church was converted into a Buddhist nursing home for commercial use. After some Christians asked for help on China’s Twitter Weibo, sixteen well-known scholars and cultural figures at home and abroad jointly signed and published the "Proposal on Establishing the "Xinzhou Memory" Chinese Modern Historical Relics Theme Cultural Park," receiving active support and responses from people from all walks of life. Thanks to the efforts of all parties, the old church was preserved. On July 12, 2011, the English version of the Global Times published Liu Dong's article "Attempting a Resurrection," reporting the protection of the Xinzhou Gospel Church.
The fact that the Xinzhou Church is an important part of Christian history, that it has the support of mainstream cultural circles, and that the media and social environment are pretty open have all helped to keep it around. Since the cross-removal campaign in Wenzhou in 2014, many churches that have encountered similar difficulties have been subject to pressures from illegal land use and commercial development, either agreeing to the compensation plan and relocation or not agreeing and being demolished.
处理比较好的是山西忻州百年福音堂活动2011年时有类似的遭遇。该教堂是由英国浸礼会传教士李提摩太于1900年建立，当年这里有8名传教士为了传扬耶稣被义和团所杀。因其历史价值也是重要的文物。后来，1970年代被忻州纺织厂（现名云河集团公司）占据，并于以650万元的价格将此地卖给五台山普寿寺。2011年2月29日（正月十九日），普寿寺主持率四百多僧众举行开土动工洒净活动，宣告投资8800万元的五福清泰安养园正式启动。即这一处基督教老教堂因商业用地被改为佛教养老园。有基督徒在微博发出求助后，引起国内外十六名著名学者、文化姐人士连署发表了《关于建立“忻州记忆”中国近代史遗迹主题文化公园的建议书》，也得到了各方人士的积极支持与响应。在各方努力下，该老教堂被保存下来。2011年7月12日，《环球时报》英文版发表刘栋文章《恢复忻州百年堂的努力》 （Attempting a resurrection， Global Times ，July 12, 2011 19:07 By Liu ）曾对保护忻州福音堂事件予以报道。
但这样的案例之所以成功，与忻州百年福音堂在基督教的历史地位，以及主流文化界的援手、较为开放的媒体环境和社会环境有关。2014年之后，自温州拆十字架事件之后，不少遭遇类似困境的教堂都受制于严查非法用地和商业开发等环境，结果是同意赔偿方案和搬迁，或者不同意而被强拆。
On the evening of January 11, 2023, Nangang Church, covering an area of 1.33 acres, was forcibly demolished in Nangang Village, Feiyun Street, Ruian City, and Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, in order to build commercial houses.
The Nangang Church, worth tens of millions of RMB, was torn down after the church did not agree with the local government’s compensation plan, in which the legal area was acknowledged while the illegal building area was about seven times larger, according to the Chinese Christian Fellowship of Righteousness.
In the end, there was no way to make a deal, so anti-riot police tore down the church at night. Local people revealed that about 500 people came, and a large crane worked for several hours, lasting from nighttime to daytime the next day.
A pastor in Wenzhou explained the details of the demolition. The main building of the church had three floors and could accommodate more than 2,000 people. Around 2003 or 2004, the church members who were not very aware of the law purchased rural land to build the church, which covered an area of 1.33 acres with a construction area of 6,900 square meters while the legal area was only 980 square meters.
In Wenzhou's most recent demolition compensation plan, the government offered to pay more than ten million dollars based on the legal construction area of the church. However, the church wanted to get more compensation, but the government was unwilling to pay. The two parties had been negotiating for two or three years, and their official leaders had changed many times, but they failed to come to an agreement.
There are historical contexts for such occurrences. More than 20 years ago, the policy for building churches was relatively loose. Church members found contacts and communicated with the leaders of the village committee; generally, they could get acquiescence in building churches.
Therefore, most churches in Wenzhou violated some regulations for church buildings. But since 2014, the rules for standardizing land use in many cities have become stricter, and illegal land use in many fields, including churches, has been checked more closely. Because of this, strict investigations of illegal land use by churches are very hard for them.
In addition, the thing that happened is also related to the growth of commercial land after urban development. When the demolition funds can't be negotiated, which has happened in Protestant, Catholic, and other historical and cultural religious lands, many buildings are torn down by force. This is done to help developers. The most typical case is that in August 2022, the 200-year-old Taiyuan Beihan Catholic Church, known as Taiyuan “Notre Dame de Paris," was demolished in the urban village renovation. This exposes the problem of how to deal with old buildings when building new cities.
How to deal with these historical old churches with cultural relic significance and the legacy of the church’s illegal use of land due to historical reasons more than 20 years ago are issues that all sectors of society, including authorities, developers, and religious groups, need to face and discuss. Sadly, there aren't many good examples so far. Solutions vary a lot from place to place, but most old buildings and churches could be torn down by the government.
Nangang Church Forcibly Demolished After Failing to Reach Compensation Plan With Gov’t
