ICC Note:

A document was leaked revealing China’s plan to coerce underground church members to join the state-run church. The document detailed four steps to manage the group of house churches. Officials were instructed to coerce churches to register with the government and combine them, supervise small groups, and disband churches which refuse to cooperate. 2016 has been marked by a massive crackdown on underground churches in China. In 2015, China Aid noted a 174.65 percent increase of abuse cases against churches compared with previous years, a number which is almost sure to be dwarfed by 2016.

10/28/16 China (China Aid) – Leaked documents from Lu’an, Anhui, revealed an organized plan to catalog and disband house churches in a “Development Zone” of Yuan District.

The plan outlines four steps in order to manage the “batches” of house churches in the area. Officials are to officially register churches, combine groups, place smaller groups under temporary supervision, and ban groups who refuse to cooperate. The end goal of the plan is to fold underground churches into the official Three-Self Patriotic Movement, or, if the group is too small to be a Three-Self church and there are none in the area, ensure that their activities are closely monitored by authorities.

China Aid reports on instances of persecution, such as the suppression of Anhui house churches, in order to promote religious freedom and human rights in China.

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