As the United Nations (UN) accuses China of possible crimes against humanity against the Uyghurs, there are signs that a renewed crackdown is also underway against the nation’s churches.
Chinese authorities have been arresting pastors and shutting down congregations. The crackdown on the church is part of an aggressive policy on religion ordered by President Xi Jinping. His aim is to bring China’s religious minorities under ever-tighter state control.
China’s moves against the church come as the UN reports ‘credible evidence’ of torture against the country’s Uyghur minority, amounting ‘to crimes against humanity’. China’s Uyghurs are mainly Muslim, but they include Christians such as Pastor Alimujiang Yimiti.
Pastor Alimujiang was jailed for 15 years after telling a colleague on the phone that citizens were being monitored by state security. That phone call had been tapped, and Pastor Alimujiang was jailed for ‘inciting separatism’ and ‘leaking state secrets’.
The authorities have forced Alimujiang and other prison inmates to constantly wear headphones tuned into communist propaganda and to memorise what they hear. China stands accused of rounding up a million Uyghurs into internment camps.
“It’s all about control,” says Paul Robinson, the CEO of Release International. “What the Party cannot dominate and control it seeks to eliminate. And it’s getting worse. Our partners tell us that churches in China are facing the toughest persecution since the Cultural Revolution.”
On 21 August, local police raided the Sunday service of a church in Changchun. They burst in and hauled away the pastor, as well as his wife and seven others. Outside, as congregation members tried to leave, ChinaAid reports that police beat the Christians, causing two women to lose consciousness.
Church members begged the police to stop the beatings. A woman who challenged a police officer was bundled into a police car. Another Christian was dragged away by his collar, and a police officer threatened a man who was filming evidence on his mobile phone.
Sources: Release International, ChinaAid
Please Pray
Pray that God will provide protection and wisdom to believers confronted by police.
Pray that church leaders will know the best way for their congregations to meet.
Pray for Chinese Christians who are currently imprisoned for their faith.