For more than a billion people living in China, freedom of religion does not exist. So those that do wish to worship as they please must do it in secret, and if they are discovered the consequences can be extremely severe.
This week, China is in the news because it is suddenly engaged in a massive trade war with the United States. But most of the time, people living in the western world don’t pay much attention to what is really going on inside China, and so very few actually know about the absolutely horrifying things that are being done to Christians by the communist Chinese government.
If you are a Christian that does not live in China, I would recommend avoiding the country for the foreseeable future, because practicing your faith in China could get you arrested. New regulations that just went into effect totally ban foreigners “from preaching, sharing their faith, or establishing religious organizations without official government approval.”
New regulations released this week by the Chinese Communist Party impose severe restrictions on missionary activity in the country, according to Chinese state media and representatives of the Chinese Communist Party.
The regulations, which take effect May 1, prohibit foreigners from preaching, sharing their faith, or establishing religious organizations without official government approval.
Justifying these regulations, Chinese state media claimed that the newly revised rules promote national security—a common justification for CCP persecution of religion—and help to protect “normal religious activities,” referring to activities run under strict government oversight as part of state-run religious institutions.
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This is just the latest attempt to crack down on “unauthorized” religious activity in China.
The Chinese government openly admits that it “intensified efforts to dismantle cult organizations in 2024.”
Earlier this year, the Chinese government issued a report boasting about the increased persecution of independent religious groups in 2024.
“China’s public security authorities intensified efforts to dismantle cult organizations in 2024,” reported the Global Times, a state-run media outlet. “They have worked to curb the growth and spread of cult organizations, mitigating potential threats to national political security and maintaining social stability.”
To the Chinese, any religious organization that is not controlled by the government is considered to be a “cult”.
If you consider yourself to be a Christian in China, you are only legally permitted to attend certain types of state-controlled churches.
The protestant Three Self Church and the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association are prominent examples of these state-run institutions. They work to promote CCP propaganda and the personality cult surrounding country President Xi Jinping through songs, sermons, and community events.
Independent house churches, which operate outside the state-sponsored system, are often raided, and their members are arrested on charges of working against the interests of the state.
It has been estimated that there are more than 100 million Christians in China, and independent house churches are extremely popular.
But when a house church is discovered, the leaders are often arrested and taken to secret interrogation facilities.
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Authorities in China are detaining Christians in secretive, mobile “transformation” facilities to make them renounce their faith, RFA has learned.
A member of a Christian “house church” in the southwestern province of Sichuan who asked to be identified by a pseudonym Li Yuese said he was held in a facility run by the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department, working in tandem with the state security police, for 10 months after a raid on his church in 2018.
“It was a mobile facility, that could just set up in some basement somewhere,” Li said. “It was staffed by people from several different government departments.”
Li claims that he was beaten, abused and tortured in a very small windowless room for almost 10 months.
Li said he was held in a windowless room for nearly 10 months, during which time he was beaten, verbally abused and “mentally tortured” by staff, eventually resorting to self-harm by throwing himself against a wall.
His account is chillingly similar to those of former inmates of “transformation” camps in the northwestern region of Xinjiang.
Ultimately, Li is one of the fortunate ones.
Many Christians that are grabbed by authorities are never seen again.
Chinese officials are hoping to eventually make religion of as little importance as possible in China.
One of the ways that they hope to achieve this is by banning all children from participating in religious activities.
Children under 18 are constitutionally prohibited from having any formal religious affiliation in China. There is also a ban on religious education, including Sunday schools, religious summer camps and other forms of youth religious groups. Schools focus on promoting non-religion and atheism, and many children join CCP-affiliated youth groups, where they must pledge commitment to atheism.
Do you understand what this means? Every child in China is prohibited by law from setting foot in a church.
That is evil on a level that I don’t even have the words to describe. We need to understand who we are dealing with.
As they continue to grow in power, the Chinese would love to start imposing their “values” on the entire globe.
Meanwhile, persecution of Christians continues to intensify in areas of the world that are heavily Islamic. In fact, in some cases it can literally be a death sentence for a Muslim to become a Christian.
A mother of six children was stabbed to death by her Muslim husband in Uganda after she attended her first church service, sources said.
Nasiimu Mirembe, whose children range in age from three to 18, had put her faith in Christ on Mar. 21, after hearing the Gospel from a friend in eastern Uganda’s Busembatya town council. She was 41.
She and her friend were on their way to a church service on Mar. 23, when a Muslim neighbor, Awudu Mbulalina, greeted them 218 yards (200 meters) from the worship site and continued on, said the friend, whose name is being withheld for security reasons.
This sort of thing happens all the time in Islamic nations, but we hardly ever hear about it.
Of course things are becoming a lot more uncomfortable for Christians in many western nations as well.
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For example, Christians in New South Wales, Australia can now be hit with fines of up to $100,000 simply for praying for a gay or lesbian friend.
Christians in Sydney and throughout the rest of New South Wales, Australia, could now face five years in prison and fines of up to $100,000 for offering counseling to or praying for “LGBTQA” individuals, even if they say their same-sex attraction or gender confusion is unwanted.
On Apr. 4, legislation known as the Conversion Practices Ban Act 2024 became law, raising alarm among Christians who by merely explaining the Good News of Jesus’ power to heal, the immutable definition of marriage, or timeless truths about the complementarity of man and woman, risk being punished as criminals in NSW.
As such, this is a major step toward criminalizing Christianity and the fullness of the Gospel message in “the land down under.”
Jesus warned us that those that decide to follow Him will be hated. And we are certainly witnessing that all over the world right now.
But the persecution that is coming in the years ahead will be even worse.
Is that something you are ready to face? Jesus gave everything for you. Are you prepared to give everything for Him?
Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on , and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at .
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