A Special Report by ICC
04/06/2013 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) – Even as police in China continue to raid house church gatherings of Christians in private homes, the communist country’s pattern of restricted religious freedom needs rapid reinvention.
On March 22, a house church gathering of 14 Christians in a private home was disrupted by 21 members of the Public Security Bureau – a government office that functions as a police force – who laid siege to the front door but were kept out by the Christians who refused to respond. When they finally left, the Christians dispersed.
Then the officers returned that evening, armed with guns and electric batons but no search warrant. Police ransacked the home of Xu, the lady of the house, intimidating her with their shouting and yelling. They confiscated all the Christian material they could find – calendars, hymnals, Bibles – put it on the floor and took pictures of them. Then they took away a CPU tower and a notebook, claiming them for inspection.
When her husband and son returned home, the police took their fingerprints, footprints and blood samples, before taking them to the police station, where the father and son were released in a few hours, but Xu was held and the family was informed that she would be released in 15 days. A Christian linked to the house church was summoned to the police station, but he was released after the intense interrogations triggered a relapse of a heart disease condition.
Raids not Uncommon
In a separate incident on March 1, officers from Mianzhu’s Hanwang Public Security Bureau raided a meeting of Christians in a private home led by An, a woman who came to the region in 2008 to help with relief efforts after an earthquake hit the region. Along with other Christian volunteers, she used stories to calm the children traumatized by the quake. Later, when the students returned to school, An stayed and established a house church.
After the raid, officials took her into custody and ordered her to leave the area within three days because she had violated the law of religion. Before being ordered to go, they recorded the names and identities of everyone at the meeting, took pictures of her, made written and video documentations of the interrogation, read out the regulations she had violated and compelled her to write a statement of guarantee, which was dictated to her, as insurance against further Christian activity.
On July 8, 2012, Police in Jiangxi province raided a house church, confiscating church property – Sunday school books, computers and projectors. Three leaders were detained for three hours but the confiscated items were not returned.
In March 2012, more than 70 Christians were gathered at Pastor He Enjun’s home, when suddenly more than 10 policemen and officials burst into the room, declaring it an “unapproved, illegal meeting.” They forced every Christian to be photographed before taking them in for questioning. Some were not released for two days.
Police also confiscated the Bibles, hymnals, notebooks, Christian Education DVDs and other materials, but refused to provide a receipt for the confiscated items, as required by the law. The pastor and his wife were threatened to stop holding meetings in their home.
The Motive
Religious freedom in China is afforded to “normal religious activity,” which translates into the five state approved religious organizations, including Protestantism, but rules out the millions of Christians who belong to house churches that gather in homes, town halls and empty restaurants.
The number of house churches and the rapid growth of Christianity in China are seen as a threat to the nation’s interests. The police raids are simply a reactionary attempt to intimidate Christians and perhaps stop the spread of the faith. But it doesn’t seem to be working. According to State statistics, there are 23.5 million Christians in the country, but according to China Aid, a Christian charity based in the U.S., the number is closer to 130 million, 80 percent of whom attend the “illegal” house churches, says Voice of the Martyrs.
The officially atheistic ruling Communist Party in China discourages any of its members from holding any religious faith. But as the number of Christians in China rapidly continues to grow, despite the persecution of house churches, the State is called upon to rethink its strategy of the intimidation and abuse of Christians, which does nothing but disempower its most important resource – its people.
Ryan Morgan, International Christian Concerns’ Regional Manager for Southeast Asia, says: “The ongoing practice by Chinese authorities of raiding house church services, confiscating property, and intimidating Christian worshipers is inexcusable…While we applaud the many positive comments by President Xi Jinping indicating his determination to fight government corruption, we strongly urge him and the Chinese Communist Party to immediately put an end to the practice of raiding gatherings of a religious nature, registered or otherwise.”
As China struggles to stamp out Christianity with an iron fist, it will need to reinvent itself by broadening its perspective to be more inclusive of Christians and less controlling of them, a move that will serve to strengthen, not weaken, its own civil, social and moral core.