New Laws Restricting Christian Activities, which are intended to limit all religious activities to official venues only and prevent the display of religious symbols outdoors, will come into force in China on Friday, September 1, 2023.To ensure that churches and other places of worship support the Communist Party of China’s leadership, the state will have to oversee all religious activity.
A Christian charity working with persecuted believers, Release International (RI), says the new rules are tantamount to a complete ban on Christianity.
Christians in China are already facing increasing regulations following a ban on Bible apps there. Churches are also forced to preach from rewritten Bibles, which have been edited to support communist ideology. Those that refuse must meet ‘underground’, away from the public eye, and face imprisonment if they are caught.
A spokesman for RI, Paul Robinson, said, “This is a further attempt to clamp down on the church in China. Yet by every account, Christianity in China is growing. The number of Christians in China has long surpassed the membership of the Communist Party.” RI Partner Bob Fu, President of China Aid, says: “I don’t think I’ve seen the Chinese Communist Party as bold as they’ve been this summer in playing God and twisting how the gospel is taught.
The only correct perspective in the eyes of the communist government is worship of the state and placing faith in Xi Jinping. ‘The international community must take note of escalating oppression from the Communist Party of China.”