In the case of the Hangzhou incident, the authorities have defended the demolition of the nearly completed church, saying that it was being built without proper authorization.
"It is clear that this church was an illegal structure, it did not have the approval of the Religious Affairs Bureau, or the government," a police official said.
The authorities worked hard, though, to suppress news of the event. One parishioner, who spoke to foreign journalists about the destruction, was detained.
Zan Aizong was arrested and then fired from his job as a reporter for a local newspaper after he wrote of the church demolition on a Chinese Web site: "The government said no one was hurt and that no riot happened. But real people were injured, so where is the truth and justice?"
As the foreign visitors prepared to leave the church service, they were approached by a woman who had watched them.
"What a situation," she said, imploringly, her face flush with emotion. "Our church was half built, and the government demolished it, just like that," she said.
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