Communist China steps up the ‘Religious Winter’ against Christians. The red nation cut off power and electricity to several church buildings and house churches for refusing to install surveillance devices.
Members of Tuanqian Village Church in Rui’an, a county-level city in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, spoke with reporters on June 4, saying that after their church refused to install government surveillance equipment, they lost power and water to several buildings associated with the church. – China Aid
The church leaders fear they may need to relent and install the surveillance devices so power and electricity can be restored.
“I heard that the church leaders are about to give up their resistance because the wires in the director’s factory were cut off,” an anonymous church member said. “The wires of the church leaders’ houses were damaged as well. [They have targeted] both the private residence and a factory. It’s too much pressure. They are about to give in.”
The Tuanqian Village Church has roughly 600 members, and it is believed that their church is the only church in Rui’an without surveillance installed.
“The church is giving up resistance, but they have not installed the cameras yet. At the very least, they will not open the door and invite the government workers in.”
Previously other churches have fallen victim to the red hand of communism as well; Shayuan Village Church, lost power until they also agreed to install cameras.
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China is one of the top countries listed for Christian persecution. According to Fox News and Freedom House;
The persecution of Christians and other religious groups in China has “intensified” since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, a new report by watchdog group Freedom House found.
The report estimated that a third of all religious believers in China who belong to faith groups face “high” to “very high” levels of persecution ranging from bureaucratic harassment and economic exploitation to harsh prison terms and even deadly violence.
“Many spiritual activities practiced freely around the world — from fasting during Ramadan to praying with one’s children or performing Falun Gong meditation exercises — are restricted and can be harshly punished in China,” Sarah Cook, a senior research analyst at Freedom House, said in a press release. “The scale and severity of controls over religion, and the trajectory of both growing persecution and pushback, are affecting Chinese society and politics far beyond the realm of religious policy alone.”
Freedom House’s report focused on seven different religions practiced in China — Chinese Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Tibetan Buddhism, and Falun Gong — that account for more than 350 million believers.
As the Christian Journal has covered previously China is increasing their assault against Chinese Christians;
One of the new rules says it will be an offense to “organize citizens to attend religious training, conferences and activities abroad,” “preaching, organizing religious activities, and establishing religious institutions or religious sites at schools,” and “providing religious services through the internet.”
In a bid for the new rules to be accepted, Xi Jinping’s government claims some of the restrictions are in the interest of state security. There will also be limits on accepting teaching posts in foreign countries and organizing religious activities in unapproved religious sites – allowing the government to monitor state-controlled churches and stamp out any underground movements.
