The suppression of religious belief in China continues to deepen, with a “full-scale institutional restructuring” making many church activities illegal on grounds of national security, according to new research.
According to ChinaAid’s annual report concerning religious freedom in China for 2025, the nation’s government has moved from a “high-pressure stability maintenance” model to a new approach of “institutional reconstruction”, which has seen them embed control over religious activity “into the core of regime operations” through a variety of legal, technological, cultural and international means.
The report reveals how they have implemented laws making many ordinary religious activities, including online sermons, Bible distribution and house church services, illegal, with underground churches and unregistered faith groups specifically targeted for persecution.
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