Religious issues and persecution – Bimonthly Digest October 01-15
Buddhists
11.10.2024- CCP insists on falsifying the History of “Humanistic Buddhism”
Bitter Winter – On September 21 and 22, 2024, the Jade Buddha Temple in Shanghai hosted a national forum on “the theory and practice of humanistic Buddhism.” Bureaucrats from the United Front Work Department and the government-controlled China Buddhist Association spoke at the event.
Venerable Changzang, speaking also on behalf of the absent Master Yanjue, the President of the government-controlled China Buddhist Association of which Changzang is Vice President, hailed Shanghai as “the birthplace of humanistic Buddhism.” He also explained that “humanistic Buddhism” and “Sinicized Buddhism” are one and the same.
Church of Almighty God
07.10.2024 – A scandal in Italy: lists of Church of Almighty God members seeking asylum in Italy published in China
Bitter Winter – Musical performance by members of the Church of Almighty God in Italy.
The Church of Almighty God is, along with Falun Gong, the most persecuted religious movement in China, as recognized by numerous documents from international organizations and national governments. I dedicated a book published by Oxford University Press to this Christian new religious movement, to which I refer for more information.
Because of the persecution, torture, and extra-judicial killings to which members of the movement are subjected, those who can flee abroad and apply for asylum. Even abroad, however, they cannot feel safe. As reported in a film produced by “Bitter Winter,” China’s “Long Arm of the Dragon” spies on and harasses refugees abroad as well.
Catholics
15.10.2024 – China, Catholics told “honor Thy Father” means “honor the Communist Party”
Bitter Winter – “Honor Thy Father” is a main commandment for Christians. It was discussed earlier this month at something called “Party-Oriented Sermon Exchange Activity” for priests of the government-controlled (and now Vatican-approved) Patriotic Catholic Church of the Gansu province, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in October 1949.
120 priests and lay workers went through a training on how to prepare truly “Sinicized” sermons, and the theme was “Filial Piety in Chinese Culture and the Bible.”
01.10.2024 – China is removing crosses from churches, replacing images of Christ with Xi Jinping
CNA – A new report details the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) efforts to “exert total control” over the Catholic Church and other religious faiths within its borders and to “forcibly eradicate religious elements” that the party deems contrary to its political and policy agenda.
The analysis, published by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) last week, asserts that the CCP’s “sinicization of religion” policy consistently violates the internationally protected right to freedom of religion. The term sinicization means to conform something to Chinese culture, but the policy essentially subordinates faiths to “the CCP’s political agenda and Marxist vision for religion,” according to the report.
Falun Gong
14.10.2024 – Shandong woman detained for 10 days for her faith, forced to give blood and hair samples months later
Minghui – A woman in Pingdu City, Shandong Province, was detained for ten days in May 2024 for her faith in Falun Gong. Months later, the police went to Ms. Liu Guiying’s home and forcibly collected blood and hair samples without explaining the purpose.
Ms. Liu had just stepped outside her apartment building at noon on April 26, 2024 when she heard someone calling her name. In a flash, four plainclothes officers swarmed her and snatched her bag and electric bicycle key. They pushed her into an unmarked car and drove her straight to the Dongge Police Station for interrogation. She was released at 10:30 p.m.
09.10.2024 – 34-year-old Harbin man endured 7 years of brutal torture in prison
Minghui – The Dongling Prison in Shenyang City is one of the few prisons that imprison Falun Gong practitioners. Since the Chinese Communist Party started to persecute Falun Gong in 1999, the prison has used brutal methods to torture practitioners. To date, practitioners detained at the prison are still subjected to torture for not renouncing their faith. Below is a persecution account of a 34-year-old man who served seven years in prison.
Mr. Zhang Shude, a native of Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, earned a master’s degree from Harbin Technological University in 2014. He then landed a job at the Dalian City Science and Technology Design Institute in Liaoning Province. His employer later relocated him to nearby Panjin City in the same province.
08.10.2024 – Beijing: Fourteen Falun Gong practitioners and two family members arrested in one day
Minghui – Fourteen Falun Gong practitioners in the Yanqing District of Beijing,were arrested on September 23, 2024. Most of them had their homes ransacked. Two of their family members, who don’t practice Falun Gong, were also seized by the police.
The 16 locals are: Mr. Hao Xiufeng, Ms. Liang Fenglian, Ms. Zhang Yanrong, Ms. Yang Xiulan, Ms. Zhang Xiuhua, Ms. Xi Ping, Ms. Wu Zhenye, Ms. Liu Yuling, Ms. Zhang Xiulan, Ms. Zhang Yan (also known as Ms. Zhang Chufeng) and her two sisters (names unknown), Ms. Wang Chaoying and her husband Mr. Guo Zhenfang, Ms. Wu Fangling and her husband Mr. Wang Jianmin. Mr. Guo and Mr. Wang don’t practice Falun Gong.
Protestants
15.10.2024 – Upcoming second pre-trial conference for Pastor Zhou Songlin and elder Ding Zhongfou from Hefei Ganquan Church
China Aid – This morning, the second pre-trial conference for the “fraud” case against Pastor Zhou Songlin and Elder Ding Zhongfu of Ganquan (translated: Fountain; Streams) Church in Hefei, Anhui Province, will be held at the Shushan District People’s Court in Hefei. The first pre-trial conference was held on July 31, 2024. During that conference, the defense lawyers pointed out that the prosecutors had not fulfilled their duties, resulting in numerous issues with the indictment.
The prosecutors were left speechless when questioned and had to end the meeting early. That day, more than 20 Christians spontaneously went to the court but were unable to see the two pastors in person. They could only see the pre-trial conference situation on a small screen outside the courtroom. When the police vehicles transporting the two pastors entered and exited, the pastors could see their family members and church brothers and sisters waiting outside the court.
14.10.2024 – Breaking news: Yinchuan House Church preacher Ma Yan arrested for “organising illegal gatherings
China Aid – According to Meihang, the wife of Yinchuan preacher Ma Yan, her husband has been formally arrested by the local procuratorate on suspicion of “organizing illegal gatherings”. The arrest was made on September 29, 2024. On August 9, 2024, local police had initially imposed a 10-day administrative detention on Ma Yan for “disturbing social order”. As soon as the administrative detention ended, Ma Yan was immediately criminally detained on suspicion of “organizing illegal gatherings”.
32-year-old preacher Ma Yan is from Zhenxiong, Yunnan Province. He became a Christian while in college and was later called to serve as a house church preacher in Yinchuan, Ningxia Province. According to Chang Hao, a recently released preacher from Zhenxiong, Ma Yan and his wife had visited Chang Hao’s family after his arrest.
14.10.2024 – China’s officially recognised churches celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the communist party in China
China Aid – Xi Jinping’s religious discourse has shaped the direction of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) policies, regulations, and measures concerning religion. At the Central United Front Work Conference in 2015, Xi stated: “Actively guide religions to adapt to socialist society, must adhere to the direction of Sinicization.” During national conferences on work related to religious affairs in both 2016 and 2021, Xi emphasized that the Sinicization of religion should serve as the ideological guideline and fundamental principle for religious work. Under this political directive, the Chinese government began implementing mandatory Sinicization policies, restricting religious freedom and fundamentally altering the religious landscape in China.
10.10.2024 – Golden Lampstand Case: Sola Fide preacher Yang Rongli awaits trial in jail
Bitter Winter – On October 3, 2024, well-known Sola Fide leader, female preacher Yang Rongli, celebrated her 66th birthday in jail at Yaodu District Detention Center, Linfen City, Shanxi Province. Other Christian dissidents and Falun Gong practitioners are also detained in the same jail.
In 2018, “Bitter Winter” reported on the persecution of the Golden Lampstand Church, a house church in Linfen City, Shanxi, and the destruction of its worship site. The congregation is part of a network with over 50,000 members and the church had cost nearly 2.6 million USD to construct.
08.10.2024 – Zhu Bin: Christian school founder detained in Beijing
Bitter Winter – Zhu Bin, a Christian activist and dissident and the co-founder of Beijing Special Children School, was criminally detained by the Haidian Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau on charges of “inciting disturbances” on September 29, 2024. He is currently held in the Haidian District Detention Center in Beijing.
Zhu Bin was born in the county-level city of Fu’an, Fujian Province, on February 24, 1973. His school, established in 2017 and not connected with the government-controlled Three Self Church, has been harassed and raided repeatedly.