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China

• Christianity Allegedly an "Enormous Harm"

  
  

  A seminar was held during late April in the city of Hebi, Henan, to discuss "Christianity's enormous harm on China's security." Attended by members of the Chinese Communist Party, the gathering encouraged all members to maintain "correct views" in regards to the religion.

• Government Hires Church Spies

  

  The Chinese government is hiring citizens to spy on churches, according to Christian leaders. A church elder from the city of Kaifeng, located in Henan province, stated that officials within his area had recruited someone of each village to scrutinize the worship services, paying them five times the normal monthly stipend given to poor households.

• More Than Twenty Arrested in Shanghai

  

  Authorities in the city of Shanghai seized more than 20 Christian business leaders, along with one American citizen, in the early morning of April 4th. According to ChinaAid, the arrests were directly tied to their faith and church activities.

• Prominent Church Closed

  

  Over the past eight years, we have been reporting on numerous incidents of hardship faced by members of the Shouwang Church in Beijing, one of the most prominent unregistered churches in the country. On March 23rd, the police moved in to completely shut down and liquidate the church. For a list of previous reports, click here.

• John Cao's Appeal Delayed Again

  

  Despite continued efforts to submit an appeal, local authorities have again postponed the hearing for John Cao, who was convicted in 2017 of "organizing an illegal border crossing" between China and Myanmar, and thus sentenced to seven years in prison (see this report).

• Mysterious Disappearance of Church Affiliate

  

  Since the arrest of over 100 members of the Early Rain Covenant Church in December, authorities have continued to charge, detain and harass Christians associated with the church. For more information on the original raid, click here.

  One member, Pan Fei, has been arrested several times since the original attack. After the first time he was detained, interrogated and released, he moved to a new home. Yet, he continued to be harassed by the local authorities who frequently broke into his residence.

• Arrests of Inquiring Loved Ones

  

  Five relatives were taken into custody after gathering outside a police station to ask about their loved ones on February 15th.

  On December 9th, around 100 members of the Early Rain Covenant Church, located in the city of Chengdu, had been taken into custody (see this report). At last report, several were still imprisoned. Concerned about the condition of their detained loved ones, and wanting more information, family members gathered outside the police station with their small children.

• New Hotline for Reporting Religious Activities

  

  A government office in Henan province announced on January 28th that a hotline has been established to report "illegal religious activities." The announcement from the Wenfeng Street Community Office promised confidentiality and offered cash rewards.

  The announcement also threatened fines of up to $39,000 CAD for homeowners who allowed a religious gathering on their property, as well as other severe penalties. The public was encouraged to "aggressively monitor" their community members for such violations.

• Authorities Remove the First Commandment

  

  While much of the opposition in China is aimed at the country's unregistered churches, the efforts of the government to impose allegiance to the state affects all Christians. The legally registered Three-Self Churches have faced orders to tear down their crosses. They have been forced to instead display the state flag and a photo of President Xi Jinping at the front of their churches. "Core socialist values" are to be integrated into the services as doctrine.

• Opposition Expands and Grows

  

  For months, an ongoing campaign against house churches has resulted in closures throughout the country. As Eric Foley from VOM Korea says, "When China shut down more and more smaller underground churches earlier this year, they watched the world's reaction carefully and found that Christians around the world would do little. This has given them boldness to shut down the largest underground churches."