CHINA: Freedom of religion or belief: Special bimonthly FoRB newsletter (01-15.01.2022)

 General

12.01.2022 – China’s Public Security: To protect economy, crackdown on illegal religion

Top police bureaucrat explains why to implement the program of the Central Economic Work Conference controlling religion is essential.

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06.01.2022 – Government sets new restrictions on sharing religious information online amid ongoing violations

Further strict regulations concerning the sharing of religious content online, due to take effect on 1 March 2022, were published by the Chinese government in December 2021, amid ongoing violations against religious communities over the Christmas and New Year period in China.

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03.01.2022 – Online religious services and activities led by foreigners to be banned in China

The Chinese State Administration of Religious Affairs (SARA), along with the Ministries of Industry and Information Technology, of Public Security, and of State Security, recently announced new restrictive measures for Christian online activities.

The measures, which will affect churches, organisations and individuals, will come into force on 1 March 2022.

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Protestants

11.01.2022 – Chen Yu: 7 year sentence for selling Christian books confirmed on appeal

Western media and NGO had protested against the first-degree sentence in September 2020. The appellate judge confirmed Chen should remain in jail.

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07.01.2022 – New Year’s resolutions for Chinese christians: Praise Xi and watch “Red” Movies

The Three-Self Church 2022 flag-raising ceremony told believers they should do their part in supporting CCP propaganda.

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06.01.2022 – An Yankui and Zhang Chenghao of Taiyuan Xuncheng reformed church officially arrested

The wife of An Yankui received a notice of arrest for Preacher An Yankui, sent out on December 28th by the Fenyang Public Security Bureau. The notice stated: Arrested approved by Fenyang City People’s Procuratorate, Department 2 [2021] No. Z14, at 10:00 on December 28, 2021, our bureau executed the arrest of An Yankui on suspicion of illegally crossing the national border; he is currently detained at the Xiaoyi City Detention Center.

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03.01.2022 – China: Christians arrested for attending conference in Malaysia

The detained pastors and laymen legally went to Kuala Lumpur to attend an event organized by well-known evangelist Tang Chongrong.

Tang Chongrong is a well-known Chinese overseas evangelist and missionary, and the founder of the Tang Chongrong International Mission. Tens of thousands have attended his rallies and seminars, and more have read his books.

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Buddhists

14.01.2022 – Brothers detained in Eastern Tibet

The arrests of Tenzin Norbu and Wangchen Nyima last August have only recently come to light

The detention of two monks in Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture last August has recently been revealed.

Tenzin Norbu and Wangchen Nyima, a pair of brothers from Neneng Monastery in Drago County, were arrested on 15 August 2021. They continue to be held in a detention centre in Tawu County.

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05.01.2022Restrictions on religious activities continue in Tibet

Recently, as Bitter Winter reported, the Chinese authorities in Kham (a part of historical Tibet, now in Sichuan province) destroyed a 99-foot-tall Buddha statue and forty-five prayer wheels around it.

According to the sources cited by Dharamshala-based Tibet Watch, the demolition began on December 12, 2021. In China too, in the past few years, the Chinese authorities destroyed several Buddhist statues in Zhejiang, including a 92-foot statue of the Boddhisattva Guanyin in Taizhou.

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Falun Gong

15.01.2022 – Falun Gong practitioners tortured at Yushu City Detention Center, at least two die

Since the Chinese Communist Party began to persecute Falun Gong, a spiritual practice also known as Falun Dafa in 1999, at least two Falun Gong practitioners were tortured to death at Yushu City Detention Center in Jilin Province. Other practitioners were force-fed and restrained with a straitjacket as punishment when they went on hunger strike to protest the persecution. The following are a few examples of the persecution that Falun Gong practitioners suffered at Yushu City Detention Center.

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11.01.2022 – Elderly Couple arrested by Police who pretended to be healthcare workers to vaccinate them

A woman in Linli County, Hunan Province won her lawsuit against the local social security bureau for arbitrarily suspending her pension, but the bureau has refused to reinstate her pension and even threatened to file a counter lawsuit to uphold their decision.

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09.01.2022 – Dalian woman dies in prison three years after being denied medical parole

A 66-year-old woman in Dalian City, Liaoning Province suffered long-term torture and developed breast cancer while serving time for practicing Falun Gong. Ms. Zhong Shujuan died in Liaoning Women’s Prison on December 24, 2021, three years after her request for medical parole was denied. Her body was cremated in the presence of the police, prosecutor and judge who were involved in her sentencing.

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