9/25/2024 China (International Christian Concern) — The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on Monday released a report denouncing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for advancing initiatives to elevate China over God. 

The policy, called Sinicization, seeks to force socialism and Chinese nationalism upon religious teachings and institutions, regardless of whether the institutions agree.  

“Sinicization, or the complete subordination of religious groups to the CCP’s political agenda and Marxist vision for religion, has become the core driving principle of the government’s management of religious affairs,” USCIRF said in a statement on the report. “They also forcibly eradicate religious elements considered contradictory to the CCP’s political and policy agenda with ultranationalist overtones. Government officials have installed CCP loyalists as leading religious figures, altered houses of worship with CCP-approved architecture, integrated CCP propaganda into religious doctrines, and otherwise criminalized non-CCP-backed religious activities, all to ensure the stability of CCP rule.” 

The government has pushed for Sinicization for several years. In 2017, CCP members reportedly visited thousands of Christians in Yugan County and ordered them to replace crosses and pictures of Jesus with images of President Xi Jinping. Villagers alleged that authorities threatened to withhold their state benefits if they didn’t comply. Chinese authorities have denied the claim. 

In 2019, members of China’s Religious Affairs Bureau reportedly forced Christian churchgoers in several Protestant churches in the city of Qingdao to replace their hymnals. Authorities forbade hymns praising God and replaced them with a book of hymns that predominantly praised China and the elderly and mentioned customs like funerals. 

Also, in 2019, Radio Free Asia reported that a Catholic church in Jiangxi was forced to replace a depiction of Mary holding Jesus with a picture of President Xi. 

This year, China Aid, a Christian advocacy group, reported a Christian was blocked from reading about the lives of historic Protestant figures Martin Luther and John Calvin. When the individual, whose name is being withheld for security purposes, attempted to translate the works of the two men using the internet, they received a warning. Regarding the Christian’s internet search on Luther, the warning stated, in part, that “any religion must adapt to Chinese socialist society.” The search on Calvin wouldn’t translate certain parts of the text; instead, it returned a message that stated, “Error: Unable to retrieve data from the translation engine API.” 

The USCIRF report also stated that the CCP had installed individuals who are loyal to China as religious leaders within the Catholic Church in China without consulting the Vatican. The report also contains claims that Chinese authorities have disappeared Catholic leaders and imprisoned Protestant believers who were not willing to go along with their agendas.  

Additionally, according to China Aid, more than one thousand crosses have been removed from Christian churches since 2014. 

In 2023, the government-controlled Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) — China’s official Protestant church — released its five-year plan to further Sinicize Christianity within the country. 

According to a report published in China Source by Carsten Vala, professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at Loyola University Maryland, the plan furthers CCP ideology. 

“The most important conclusion is that the [TSPM] now lays far greater emphasis on political loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party and comparatively weaker emphasis on traditional Christian ideas,” Vala stated. The professor also asserted that China is attempting to change core Christian theology. 

“Much of the concern overseas has been that the official church is rewriting the Bible or changing traditional theological concepts,” Vala said. “In fact, in more than 20 years of studying the church in China, this is the closest I’ve seen such efforts actually taking place.” 

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