Tag: China

Police in China given quotas for how many Christians to arrest

December 6, 2018 China Catholics, China, Churches, Hebei, Henan, Liaoning, Peter Shao Zhumin, Police, Religion Law, Shanxi, Xi Jinping, Zhejiang, Zhengzhou

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

Myanmar: More Bible students escape, but 20 women still held

December 3, 2018 Myanmar Baptists, China, Churches, Education, Myanmar, Shan

Ethnic Wa, Palaung and Shan people watch in 2013 a religious ceremony by the ethnic United Wa State Army who have been fighting Myanmar's government troops in northern Shan state for decades. (Photo: Getty Images)

Four of the 41 Bible students forcibly recruited by an ethnic minority army in Myanmar’s northern Shan state in September have escaped, according to Catholic news site UCAN. Last month an initial group of 17 students escaped from a United Wa State Army (UWSA) base in the Wa hills near the . . . Read More

China: Christian students under pressure to give up their faith

November 27, 2018 China China, Churches, Education, Hebei, Shandong, Sichuan, Three-Self Patriotic Movement, Youth, Zhejiang

Group of Chinese students on Tiananmen Square, in front of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Municipal authorities in a city in China’s northern Hebei province have been given directions on how to handle students and teachers who express their religious beliefs, reports religious-liberty magazine Bitter Winter. Foreign teachers and students are not allowed to preach or promote religion, and local students are prohibited from speaking . . . Read More

Myanmar: Bible students ‘suffering health and psychological problems’ after escaping armed group

November 15, 2018 Myanmar China, Churches, Education, Kachin, Myanmar, Shan

Members of the ethnic army group UWSA stand guard north of Kyaing Tong town, in eastern Shan state, in 2006. (Photo: Getty Pictures)

Seventeen of the 41 Bible students forcibly recruited by an ethnic minority army in Myanmar’s northern Shan state in September have escaped, according to Catholic news site UCAN. The students arrived in groups of two or three at the Lahu Baptist Church in Kyaing Tong town, eastern Shan state, in the . . . Read More

Chinese ‘underground’ bishop detained by police for fifth time in two years

November 9, 2018 China Catholics, China, Hebei, Peter Shao Zhumin, Wenzhou, Zhejiang

China's catholic dioceses are to respond to the government led campaign of the 'sinicization of religion' with a plan of action. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Chinese “underground” bishop Peter Shao Zhumin of the coastal city of Wenzhou, in Zhejiang province, was taken by police this morning, 9 November, reports AsiaNews. He is expected to be held for 10-15 days, the news site reported, adding that while the police generally calls these times “vacation periods … . . . Read More

China: Cultivate ‘patriotic’ clergy, Henan officials told

November 2, 2018 China Catholics, Chengdu, China, Churches, Fujian, Fuzhou, Henan, Human rights, Police, Proselytism, Religious freedom, Sichuan, Sinicisation, Three-Self Patriotic Movement

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 introduces three-person teams to monitor religious groups

October 23, 2018 China Catholics, China, Churches, Sinicisation, Three-Self Patriotic Movement, Wenzhou

In Wenzhou city – also dubbed “China’s Jerusalem” – teams of three government officials will now monitor the activities of religious groups by keeping their meeting-places under observation, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Alongside other requirements, the groups must align their teachings with the agenda of the government. The teams . . . Read More

China: 6 churches closed, crosses removed from 3 others

October 19, 2018 China Beijing, Catholics, China, Guiyang, Guizhou, Henan, Protestants, Wenzhou

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’s Internet guidelines a ‘serious violation of people’s freedoms’

October 4, 2018 China China, Communism, Fujian, Religious freedom, Sinicisation

China’s new draft guidelines on religious activities on the Internet, published last month, will curtail Christians’ freedom even further, writes Hong Kong-based professor Ying Fuk-tsang for UCAN “This is a serious violation of people’s freedom of speech and freedom of expression. It proves once again that the ‘Orwellian Empire’ is . . . Read More

China: Christian schoolchildren forced to tick ‘no religion’ box

October 2, 2018 China Children, China, Communism, Education, Religious freedom, USA, Zhejiang

More than 300 Christian children in two high schools in Zhejiang province, which has been referred to as the “Jerusalem of the East” for its strong Christian presence, have been asked to fill out a form stating that they did not follow a religion, World Watch Monitor has been told by a trusted local . . . Read More

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