Chinese Regimes War on Christian House Churches
Police cars and bus are parked near Shouwang Church worship site in Beijing, ready to take church members away, April 24. (Photo provided by an anonymous insider) Chinese authorities continued their raids during outdoor worship services of an underground Christian house church in Beijing the first Sunday in May.
The arrests show the intention of Chinas newly appointed Secretary of Religious Affairs to break up and crush all house churches and bring them under the mantle of government control, a member of the church told The Epoch Times.
At least 31 Christians of Beijings Shouwang Church were taken away from their outdoors worshipping site by police on May 1 according to China Aid Association. People were sent to different Public Security Bureaus or police stations, among them a minister from Beijings New Tree Church who had joined the service of Shouwang Church. He was held by police for two full days.
This latest crackdown on Shouwang Church followed earlier police raids on Apr. 17 and 24Easter Sundaywhen several dozen church members were arrested and 500 members placed under house arrest.
Two days of Sino-U.S. human rights talks at the end of April, during which the U.S. brought up the issue of persecution of religious groups, proved ineffectual in protecting Chinese Christians who choose to worship outside the state-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement Church.
The real intention behind Chinese authorities oppression of Shouwang Church is to completely break up house churches like Shouwang Church and eventually merge them into the government-controlled Three-Self Church. This is a goal that the newly appointed Secretary of Religious Affairs urgently wants to achieve, a member of the Shouwang Church who asked to remain anonymous, told The Epoch Times. He said the informatio! n came from an internal meeting of the Bureau of Religious Affairs.
The arrests show the intention of Chinas newly appointed Secretary of Religious Affairs to break up and crush all house churches and bring them under the mantle of government control, a member of the church told The Epoch Times.
At least 31 Christians of Beijings Shouwang Church were taken away from their outdoors worshipping site by police on May 1 according to China Aid Association. People were sent to different Public Security Bureaus or police stations, among them a minister from Beijings New Tree Church who had joined the service of Shouwang Church. He was held by police for two full days.
This latest crackdown on Shouwang Church followed earlier police raids on Apr. 17 and 24Easter Sundaywhen several dozen church members were arrested and 500 members placed under house arrest.
Two days of Sino-U.S. human rights talks at the end of April, during which the U.S. brought up the issue of persecution of religious groups, proved ineffectual in protecting Chinese Christians who choose to worship outside the state-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement Church.
The real intention behind Chinese authorities oppression of Shouwang Church is to completely break up house churches like Shouwang Church and eventually merge them into the government-controlled Three-Self Church. This is a goal that the newly appointed Secretary of Religious Affairs urgently wants to achieve, a member of the Shouwang Church who asked to remain anonymous, told The Epoch Times. He said the informatio! n came from an internal meeting of the Bureau of Religious Affairs.
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Belief is a freedom. Its impossible to ask us to register in a false church run by the government. It goes contrary to the belief of our house church, this person said.
The problems the Shouwang Church faces are what all house churches in China face. If the Shouwang Church is wiped out, all the house churches in the entire nation are facing suppression next, he said.
Global Times, an international newspaper run by the Chinese communist partys mouthpiece People's Daily, stated in an April 26 editorial that house churches are engaged in illegal activities. They are not engaged in religious affairs but political ones, the editorial said.
Read the original Chinese article.
- Over 500 Christians Detained to Derail Easter in China
Belief is a freedom. Its impossible to ask us to register in a false church run by the government. It goes contrary to the belief of our house church, this person said.
The problems the Shouwang Church faces are what all house churches in China face. If the Shouwang Church is wiped out, all the house churches in the entire nation are facing suppression next, he said.
Global Times, an international newspaper run by the Chinese communist partys mouthpiece People's Daily, stated in an April 26 editorial that house churches are engaged in illegal activities. They are not engaged in religious affairs but political ones, the editorial said.
Read the original Chinese article.
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