Police in China given quotas for how many Christians to arrest

Police in China given quotas for how many Christians to arrest
Police stations in a city in northeast China are having their performance evaluated according to the number of Christians they arrest, says religious-liberty magazine Bitter Winter. A police officer from Dalian, a port city in Liaoning Province, near the North Korean border, told the magazine that his station had received . . . Read More

China: Cultivate ‘patriotic’ clergy, Henan officials told

China: Cultivate ‘patriotic’ clergy, Henan officials told
Local government officials in China’s central Henan province are being encouraged to cultivate “patriotic” clergy for leadership positions in the Catholic Church, according to a document outlining how to implement the new religion regulations. The guidelines, published in a confidential document titled ‘Supervision and Self-Inspection Framework for Implementing the Central . . . Read More

China: 6 churches closed, crosses removed from 3 others

China: 6 churches closed, crosses removed from 3 others
Authorities in China have closed at least six “underground” Protestant churches in Guizhou province in Southwest China, reports CSW. The churches in Guiyang city were closed on 8 October on account of being “illegal religious venues”. “Unregistered churches in the area have been under pressure from authorities to join the . . . Read More

China: 279 church leaders sign petition urging government to stop its ‘violent actions’

"Christians are an enigma to the Chinese Communist Party," researcher Aaron Ma says. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)
A public letter urging the Chinese government to stop its “violent actions” against Christians has been signed by some 279 church leaders in the country, reports the St. Charles Institute. In central Henan province alone, two-thirds of churches have closed and more than 7,000 crosses have been demolished after pressure from . . . Read More

China’s ‘underground’ churches told to seek ‘guidance’ from state-approved bodies

A house church meeting in China in 2005. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)
A newly implemented directive from the Chinese government forces Protestant ‘house churches’ and Catholic ‘underground’ communities to seek “guidance” from recognised religious organisations. A notification from the State Administration for Religious Affairs, issued earlier this month, requires organisers of religious activities at temporary sites to also apply for a permit . . . Read More

China: children stopped from entering church as pressure on Henan Christians increases

Under new religious regulations in China, religious education to minors is prohibited. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)
Pressure on Christians is increasing in China’s central Henan province, according to Catholic news service UCAN. Suppressive measures on both Catholic and Protestant churches have been directed by the central government in Beijing and have intensified in recent weeks, according to UCAN, which reported that churches had been “demolished and . . . Read More

China: clampdown reaches Christians in Henan

China: clampdown reaches Christians in Henan
Local authorities in China’s east-central Henan Province have removed a number of crosses from churches closed a church-run kindergarten and asked Christian residents in one city to register. The “two or three” crosses that have been forcibly removed from churches were located in Yichuan county, and were taken down because . . . Read More