Significant persecution continues for Christians in China, with raids becoming increasingly common and house churches facing increased surveillance as Xi Jingping’s administration continues a campaign of “sinicisation of religion”.
Following various reports of raids and arrests, en spoke to ChinaAid News to ascertain what is a constantly moving situation. While persecution varies by province, we were told how the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to ramp up its crackdown on independently minded Christianity, driven by a fear of “independent civil society and loyalty to God above the party.”
Recent headlines include the release of Ezra Jin, pastor of Beijing Zion Church, one of China’s largest unregistered Protestant churches, and nine others, following negotiations between the US and China. However, eight members continue to be detained and a raid on a service at Early Rain Covenant Church has also taken place, seeing over 30 arrested.
Additionally, ChinaAid President Bob Fu told en about other recent incidents, including: the arrest of six church leaders following a church raid in Guizhou Province; the arrest of 100 from a church network and destruction of church premises in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province; and the detention of more than 30 Christians across several cities. All of these highlight that raids are “no longer, isolated incidents” and ordinary Christian activity is “increasingly being treated as criminal conduct”.
Fu said: “These cases reveal a clear pattern. The CCP is no longer merely regulating religion; it is increasingly criminalising core elements of Christian ministry itself. What drives this trend is the party’s determination that no institution may command a loyalty higher than to the CCP. The CCP state government wants every church to become a state-controlled political instrument, not a free community of faith.
“Independent churches represent one of the largest remaining sectors of civil society beyond party control, and Xi Jinping’s government appears increasingly unwilling to tolerate that independence.”
