Tag: China

Myanmar: Ethnic army detains 92 pastors, orders others to leave

October 1, 2018 Myanmar China, Churches, Education, Missionaries, Myanmar, Shan, UN, USA

UWSA ethnic army has forced Bible students to join its ranks while closing and destroying churches in Wa region, northern Shan state. Photo: Getty Images

An ethnic armed group has recently detained almost 100 pastors and forced Bible students to join its ranks of fighters in northern Myanmar’s Shan state, reports Radio Free Asia. Witnesses who fled the state’s northern Wa region, which borders China, reported that 92 pastors were held by the armed group, . . . Read More

China-Vatican deal an ‘incredible betrayal’, says cardinal

September 24, 2018 China Catholics, China, Churches, Pope Francis, Sinicisation, Xi Jinping

Critics say the deal is a sell-out of the Catholic Church in China and undermines its credibility. (Phot: World Watch Monitor)

The Vatican and China reached a deal on Saturday, 22 September, in the long-standing dispute over the appointment of bishops, as reported by Reuters. As part of the deal with the state-backed Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, which oversees the registered Church, Pope Francis will recognise seven Chinese bishops who were . . . Read More

Churches destroyed, priests questioned in Myanmar’s Shan state

September 20, 2018 Myanmar China, Churches, Communism, Kachin, Missionaries, Myanmar, Shan, Tatmadaw, UN, USA

The United Wa State Army has ordered that churches built in Wa territory in Shan state after 1989 have to be destroyed. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

An ethnic armed group in Myanmar’s Shan state is destroying churches and holding clergymen for questioning, reports Radio Free Asia. The United Wa State Army (UWSA), the military wing of the United Wa State Party (UWSP), reportedly issued a statement on Facebook on 6 September, declaring that all churches built . . . Read More

China: 279 church leaders sign petition urging government to stop its ‘violent actions’

September 20, 2018 China Beijing, China, Churches, Henan, Religious freedom, Sinicisation

"Christians are an enigma to the Chinese Communist Party," researcher Aaron Ma says. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A public letter urging the Chinese government to stop its “violent actions” against Christians has been signed by some 279 church leaders in the country, reports the St. Charles Institute. In central Henan province alone, two-thirds of churches have closed and more than 7,000 crosses have been demolished after pressure from . . . Read More

China: More church closures and Internet censorship in further religious clampdown

September 12, 2018 China Baptism, Beijing, Censorship, Chengdu, China, House churches, Protestants, Zhengzhou

Senior lady looking at Dongguang Church in Shenyang, northeastern China. (Photo: Open Doors International)

One of China’s largest unofficial “house churches” was closed on Sunday, while new measures have been introduced to curb religious activities online. Beijing’s Zion Church had received warnings following its refusal to place CCTV cameras in its auditorium at the government’s request. On Sunday afternoon, 9 September, around 60 government . . . Read More

China ‘uses legal tactics to suppress religious freedom’, says rights agency

September 5, 2018 China Beijing, China, House churches, Religious freedom

People leaving the church after a service in Shenyang, north-eastern Dongguang province. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

China’s churches are experiencing the worst persecution in 40 years, with a government which uses “non-religious reasons” and civil law to close houses of worship, according to the US-based St Charles Institute. Pressure is applied “through opaque queries of fire-protection measures, by questioning the legality of printed materials used by the . . . Read More

No news of Chinese Catholic priest missing for 8 months

September 4, 2018 China Catholics, China, Peter Shao Zhumin, Wenzhou

Nothing has been heard from a Chinese Catholic priest missing for eight months after he was taken away by the authorities in December 2017, Catholic news agency UCAN reports. All contact with Fr. Lu Danhua was lost after the personnel of Qingtian Religious Affairs Bureau visited him in his dormitory . . . Read More

China has transformed Xinjiang into a ‘mass detention camp’ – UN

September 3, 2018 China Children, China, Prisons, Religious freedom, Terrorism, Uyghurs, Xinjiang

China's government has had an "anti terror" campaign in majority-Muslim Xinjiang region - meaning increased surveillance, arrests and detention. (Photo: JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/Getty Images)

The United Nations has raised alarm over the tens of thousands of Uyghur Muslims being held in detention centres in Xinjiang, northwest China. In a report last Thursday, the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said the Chinese government had “transformed the autonomous region of the Uyghurs into . . . Read More

China: More church closures as Party tightens rules for its religious members

August 31, 2018 China Beijing, China, Churches, Communism, House churches, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Liaoning, Protestants, Sinicisation, Three-Self Patriotic Movement, Xi Jinping

One of China’s largest “house churches” in Beijing has been threatened with closure by the government following its refusal of a request to install cameras in the church building, reports Reuters. Zion Church received a letter from the city authorities in April, asking it to install 24 closed-circuit video cameras . . . Read More

‘Disappeared’ lawyer receives award for dedication to China’s religious freedom

August 31, 2018 China China, Gao Zhisheng, Human rights, Minorities, Religious freedom

A Chinese human rights lawyer who fell foul of the authorities for his support of oppressed communities, including Christians, was awarded the Shahbaz Bhatti Freedom Award on 29 August, the Epoch Times reports. The whereabouts of the lawyer, Gao Zhisheng, have not been publicly known since August 2017, so the . . . Read More

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