When I visited China in Spring last year (2018) house-church leaders told me that new government religious regulations promulgated in February were already beginning to bite.
Sunday School and youth work were particularly targeted and house-churches ordered to register or disband. In the nine months since then, the situation has deteriorated even further with a veritable storm of persecution unleashed against the church.
Programme of surveillance
As Beijing is enforcing even stricter policing of the Internet and unrolling a nationwide programme of surveillance based on face-recognition technology, news of this new persecution is sporadic and partial. Documentary evidence is therefore particularly valuable. Documents and photos sent out by house-church sources in East China in September prove beyond doubt that the present wave of repression is indeed the worst for 40 years since the infamous Cultural Revolution (1965–1979) when all the churches were closed.
In Zhejiang province, Christians are being forced to sign statements that they ‘originally did not really understand Christianity, but now they have more comprehensive understanding of religious belief and of their own spiritual needs they have decided from today no longer to attend Christian activities and no longer to believe in Christianity.’ This is being enforced by Party officials down to village level.
Similar pressures are being brought to bear on Christian students at schools and universities as well as Christian doctors and nurses in hospitals and clinics to renounce their faith. A document from Leqing City in Zhejiang forces Christian teachers to sign the following: ‘I resolve not to believe in religion nor to attend any religious activities nor to propagate religion. To strengthen the Marxist view on religion and to strengthen atheistic education and no longer to believe in religion.’ (My translations from the original.)
Reversing the trend of openness
Over the last 40 years (1979-2017), although there has been sporadic persecution and periodic tightenings of control of religion, in general the trend had been to more openness with most government-registered churches and house-churches holding Sunday Schools and youth work. Control of the ‘Three Self’ (government-registered) churches was always there, but in many cases evangelical pastors within the state churches have proclaimed the gospel, baptised and discipled millions of converts with relative freedom. All that seems now in jeopardy. The Communist Party is re-asserting its right to interfere in the life and worship of the church in the crudest and most brutal ways.
One photo recently received of a large city church shows a red banner strung across the altar which reads: ‘Obey the Party. Follow the Party. The Lufeng Church celebrates the 97th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party.’ Another photo is of a noticeboard outside a large urban church in Zhejiang which tells people: ‘In accordance with the spirit of the relevant Party and State documents, Communist Party members, officials, children and youth, students at school, serving army men must not enter this church to attend church activities.’
Perhaps the most shocking photo is one of a rural church where portraits of Mao and of the current leader Xi Jinping have been placed either side of the cross at the front of the church sanctuary in a blatant way reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution days.
Henan province
The persecution seems particularly virulent in Henan province which has millions of Christians. According to a report published in December by Hudson Taylor Ministries nearly 200 government-run churches in Xinyang county have been closed leaving only three open. Police patrol every village to stop house-church meetings and believers are being forced to gather at 4.30 am to avoid discovery.
In recent years there has been a resurgence of the Reformed faith across China. Now many large city house-churches of Calvinist persuasion which have hundreds in attendance, such as the Early Rain church in Chengdu, are being targeted. Many such pastors have signed a joint statement calling on the government to restore freedom of religion as laid down in China’s Constitution. Such bold action sadly may invite even further repression.
The present wave of persecution appears orchestrated by the government at central level and is engulfing both unregistered house-churches and government-registered ‘Three Self’ churches who are finding their ‘legal protection’ is no guarantee against arbitrary government persecution. The church in China needs much prayer.
