Tag: Communism

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

Churches destroyed, priests questioned in Myanmar’s Shan state

September 20, 2018 Myanmar China, Churches, Communism, Kachin, Missionaries, Myanmar, Shan, Tatmadaw, UN, USA

The United Wa State Army has ordered that churches built in Wa territory in Shan state after 1989 have to be destroyed. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

An ethnic armed group in Myanmar’s Shan state is destroying churches and holding clergymen for questioning, reports Radio Free Asia. The United Wa State Army (UWSA), the military wing of the United Wa State Party (UWSP), reportedly issued a statement on Facebook on 6 September, declaring that all churches built . . . Read More

Life in 70-years-old North Korea ‘is like living in Orwell’s 1984’, says escapee

September 7, 2018 North Korea Communism, Human rights, Kim Il-Sung, Kim Jong-Un, North Korea

North Korea is preparing to celebrate its 70th anniversary while the majority of its population faces multiple challenges every day, including food shortages and human rights violations. (Photo: ED JONES/AFP/Getty Images)

As North Korea prepares to celebrate its 70th anniversary this weekend with a military parade and “Mass Games”, its population lives in perpetual war (the 1953 Korean War has never officially ended), under government surveillance and with a propaganda machine controlled by the national leader’s personality cult. The reality is . . . Read More

China: More church closures as Party tightens rules for its religious members

August 31, 2018 China Beijing, China, Churches, Communism, House churches, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Liaoning, Protestants, Sinicisation, Three-Self Patriotic Movement, Xi Jinping

One of China’s largest “house churches” in Beijing has been threatened with closure by the government following its refusal of a request to install cameras in the church building, reports Reuters. Zion Church received a letter from the city authorities in April, asking it to install 24 closed-circuit video cameras . . . Read More

China’s head of religious affairs warns of ‘domination’ by ‘foreign forces’

August 21, 2018 China Beijing, Catholics, China, Communism, Religious freedom, Sinicisation, Xi Jinping

People leaving the church after a service in Shenyang, north-eastern Dongguang province. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

China’s head of religious affairs has warned that the country’s religious groups must not be “dominated” by “foreign forces”, reports Reuters. “There is no affiliate relationship between our country’s religions and foreign religions. Our country’s religious groups and religious matters do not accept domination by foreign forces,” the religious affairs . . . Read More

China: New book explains ‘explosive’ growth of Christianity

June 25, 2018 China China, Communism, Crosses, Henan, Mao Zedong, Shandong, Wenzhou, Zhejiang

One of the largest Chinese state approved Three Self churches in the world is located in Hangzhou city, the capital of southeastern Zejiang province, and seats 5,000 people. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A new book describes the growth of Christianity in China, despite attempts by the government to clamp down on religion. “Things are heading back to how they were in the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and ’70s. Believers in some provinces have already told us things there are ‘just like . . . Read More

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

June 22, 2018 China Catholics, China, Communism, Henan, House churches, Jiangxi, Religious freedom, Sinicisation, Three-Self Patriotic Movement, Xi Jinping, Zhejiang

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

Report: China’s ‘re-education’ camps could hold over a million people

May 18, 2018 China China, Communism, Uyghurs, Xinjiang

View of Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang region, the ‘world’s most surveilled area’. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

“Re-education” camps in China’s far-western Xinjiang region hold hundreds of thousands of people – possibly even over a million – a new report says. The paper, published on Tuesday (15 May) by the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington DC-based think-tank, said there is a “substantial body of PRC [People’s Republic of China] . . . Read More

China: Pastor and 200 church members detained for commemorating earthquake

May 17, 2018 China Chengdu, China, Churches, Communism, House churches, Mao Zedong, Religion Law, Religious freedom, Sichuan, Sinicisation, Xi Jinping

People are sifting through the rubble to look for personal items after their homes were destroyed in an earthquake. (World Watch Monitor, 2008)

A church in Chengdu, the capital of China’s southwestern Sichuan province, was raided by police on Saturday (12 May) as it prepared to commemorate the 10th anniversary of an earthquake that killed almost 90,000 people and left millions homeless. Pastor Wang Yi of Early Rain Covenant Church was arrested alongside . . . Read More

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