The autocratic Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is imposing severe restrictions on Christian missionary activity in the country, arguing loyalty to the party usurps all other beliefs and credos.
The regulations, which take effect May 1, prohibit foreigners from preaching, sharing their faith, or establishing religious organizations without official government approval, persecution.org reports.
The move continues a long history of antipathy towards organized religion in the single-party state.
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) April 22, 2018
Chinese state media claims the newly revised rules promote national security — a common justification for CCP persecution of religion—and help to protect “normal religious activities,” referring to activities run under strict government oversight as part of state-run religious institutions.
The report further outlines the CCP claims it alone must maintain supremacy at all times:
The CCP has long viewed independent religious activity with suspicion, arguing that religious loyalty is at odds with the ultimate loyalty demanded by the Communist Party. The government labels independent religious activity as cultish and extremist, regardless of its theological roots, and demands that all Christian religious activity take place within the confines of state-run churches.
Earlier this year, the Chinese government issued a report boasting about the increased persecution of independent religious groups in 2024.
“China’s public security authorities intensified efforts to dismantle cult organizations in 2024,” reported the Global Times, a state-run media outlet. “They have worked to curb the growth and spread of cult organizations, mitigating potential threats to national political security and maintaining social stability.”
In a statement on the Chinese messaging app and social media platform WeChat, China’s Ministry of Public Security boasted of increased spending on technology and manpower to combat independent religious organizations and stamp out all faiths.
Chinese Christians fear that they will lose points in the communist nation's "social credit system" simply for their faith. https://t.co/mfQdwUTtid
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) October 25, 2019
In January Christians were told to prepare for similar assaults on their faith.
As Breitbart News reported, the CCP declared then it is “intent on rooting out every pocket of independent religious thought” and persecutes Christians by shutting down house churches, stripping children from Christian families, and monitoring every detail of Christian citizens’ lives.
China is an officially atheist communist state that claims to tolerate only five legal religions: Catholicism, Protestant Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, and Islam.
All five of these religions are only legal through government-operated institutions, however, that do not actually preach the teachings of the faiths but instead encourage believers to abandon the faith and worship dictator Xi Jinping.
Christianity, the world’s largest religion, is also the most persecuted.
Christians face challenges and dangers in many parts of the world simply because of their faith, with China just one example of the struggles facing those who simply want the freedom to follow Jesus.
