Tag Archives: Zhejiang

Religion + Belief

China News | Christians

Christians see restrictions on Christmas celebrations as crackdown by Chinese government continues
  • A hotel in Zhejiang province canceled plans to host two services by local churches after a warning from the government.
  • Zhejiang authorities have also moved to prevent informal “house churches” from operating and have banned all forms of religious activity in hospitals.
  • Officials have condemned many forms of religious expression in the name of national security, considering Christianity an example of the “infiltration of hostile Western forces.”

Read more:
“China Cracks Down on Christmas Celebrations, Bans Protestant Services” (Radio Free Asia)

Additional reads:
“China’s Zhejiang Bans Religious Activities in Hospitals as Crackdown Widens” (Radio Free Asia, August 2016)
“Decapitated Churches in China’s Christian Heartland” (The New York Times, May 2016)

(Image Credit: Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press, via The New York Times)

Religion + Belief

China News | Christians

1 Comment
Chinese officials target church crosses in demolition campaign throughout Zhejiang province
  • Locals described ongoing campaigns in which authorities allegedly sent in Buddhist monks to agitate Christian congregants, removed crosses from atop churches, and surveilled and intimidated social media protesters.
  • The demolitions come as part of the government’s “Three Rectifications and One Demolition” campaign targeting structures it has deemed illegal around the country.
  • President Xi Jinping has targeted churches as potential threats to national security, claiming their growth could be driven by foreign influence.

“As well as the cross demolitions, the government is carrying out ideological work with all parties,” Zhang said. “It’s not just the crosses that they’re targeting. The government wants to turn the Protestant church into a truly Chinese institution, which is to say that it wants it to become a tool of the party.”

Read the full story at Radio Free Asia.

(Image Credit: via Radio Free Asia)