(Bitter Winter) — On Dec. 1, 2019, more than 200 public security personnel and officials from the government of Lanxi city in the eastern province of Zhejiang stormed into a house church meeting venue. After shutting off electricity, they ordered the congregation to stop gathering. When the believers in the venue complained about the invaders’ […]
BEIHAI, Guangxi (ChinaAid) — This week, a Christian mother in China faced a court because she chose not to send her child to public schools. Fan Ruzhen refused public education for her child, choosing homeschooling or Christian schooling instead. Because of this, officials summoned her several times and threatened to revoke her government-provided subsistence paycheck. […]
(Bitter Winter) — Throughout 2019, authorities in the southeastern province of Jiangxi forcibly demolished numerous house churches, looted their property, and arrested clergy members under the pretext of the nationwide campaign to “clean up gang crime and eliminate evil.” Bitter Winter continues to receive more reports about such CCP-organized suppression attacks to force house churches […]
Hong Kong/Macau (International Christian Concern) – In the midst of fighting the Coronavirus epidemic, China has announced that it will put Xia Baolong, previously known for removing thousands of crosses from churches in Zhejiang province, in charge of the cabinet-level office that oversees Hong Kong and Macau affairs. Xia, 67, the vice chairman of the […]
(Bitter Winter) — The persecution of house churches that belong to the so-called “gray market” — the largest segment of Chinese religion — has intensified dramatically since the new Regulations on Religious Affairs came into force in February 2018. Crackdowns on them have been implemented throughout the country, and Ninghai county in Zhejiang Province’s prefecture-level […]
LANXI, Zhejiang (ChinaAid) — On Dec. 1, 2019, hundreds of government and public security personnel were dispatched to close a house church in Lanxi and disperse the 30 Christians who were gathering. During the incident, 11 church members were seriously injured and the church assets confiscated. On the morning of the incident, Lanxi officials sent […]
(Bitter Winter) — As elsewhere in China, house churches in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang also suffer severe crackdowns. According to recently-received reports, from March 2019 to January of this year, 60 Protestant churches that don’t belong to the Three-Self Patriotic Movement have been closed down in the prefecture-level city of Daqing. Among them, 32 […]
(Bitter Winter) — “Hurry up! Get inside!” police officers were shouting outside Le’en House Church’s meeting venue in the Tianhe district of Guangzhou, the capital of the southern province of Guangdong, on Aug. 11, 2019. Members of the congregation inside were blocking the door, trying to prevent more than 30 officers from entering. They […]
(Bitter Winter) — On Nov. 10, 2019, authorities shut down seven house church meeting venues in Longyou county of Quzhou, a prefecture-level city in the eastern province of Zhejiang, as “unlicensed” venues that “meet illegally” because they refused to join the state-controlled Three-Self Church. According to a government insider, 11 of the 13 house church […]
BEIJING (ChinaAid) — The Chinese government will roll out new regulations on religion Saturday. These regulations, consisting of six chapters and 41 articles, will require religious leaders and organizations to display complete devotion to the Chinese Communist Party. Article 5 reads, “Religious organizations must spread the principles and policies of the Chinese Communist Party, as well […]