ICC Note: The following is another article discussing the possible implications for Christians that will result from China’s recent hand-over of power. Although religious freedoms have been growing as a whole across China, incidents of arrest and intimidation against Christians are still regularly reported. As recently as last month a house church Christian and activist was sentenced to 18 months in a labor camp for “disrupting public order.” Most analysts believe little will change, at least in the near future, for members of China’s illegal house churches. 
11/16/2012 China (CDN) – China introduced its new Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party to its people and the world Thursday. The seven-man team sits at the very top of the government that will run the world’s most populous country for the next 10 years.
The team is the product of backroom deals made among Communist Party elite and China’s powerful families. The previous Standing Committee had consisted of nine men until Thursday morning, when only seven emerged to stand on a deep-red carpet in the Great Hall of the People, near Tiananmen Square in Beijing. To those watching for clues to China’s new direction, if any, under new leaders, the elimination of two positions within the Standing Committee was a significant sign, indicating the new team intends to spend less time deliberating and more time acting. Still, by most news accounts, the new Standing Committee members are a conservative lot known more for their party orthodoxy and loyalty than for reformist tendencies.
That the power transfer happened at all is notable. For a country whose legacy has been built on dynasties and strongman leaders, Thursday’s peaceful transition to new leadership is evidence of normalcy and continuity, autocratic as it may be.
As expected, Xi Jinping emerged from the secretive politicking within the underlying Central Committee as the general secretary of the party, the top leadership position. In his introductory remarks, he stressed the need to improve education and income, and to root out government corruption.
The once-a-decade transition is important to China’s 80 million Christians, who have enjoyed greater openness and toleration during the past 20 years, yet still must navigate a complicated relationship with the government, which has no tolerance for competition. To discuss what the new government leadership means for China’s Christians, Open Doors News turned to Brent Fulton, Ph.D and president of China Source, a Hong Kong-based nonprofit formed in 1997. China Source collaborates with hundreds of China-oriented churches and organizations through conferences, publications and consulting.
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