Religious Persecution In China
The Chinese Communist Party does not tolerate religion. Due to its Marxist sympathies the Party simply eradicates those religious institutions that do not support its Communist agenda. Only those religious groups that support the Chinese Communist Party are allowed to exist. These institutions are made up of “puppet” religious leaders that promote the Communist Party. Religious leaders who do not follow the Chinese Communist Party are imprisoned or sent to labor camps. Christians, Buddhists, and Muslims are all persecuted. The US State Department has studied the issue and stated the following in their 1998 human rights report on the People’s Republic of China:
Unapproved religious
groups, including Protestant and Catholic groups, continued to experience varying degrees
of official interference and repression. The Government continued to enforce 1994 State
Council regulations requiring all places of religious activity to register with the
Government and come under the supervision of official, "patriotic" religious
organizations. There were significant differences from region to region, and even locality
to locality, in the attitudes of government officials toward religion. In some areas,
authorities guided by national policy made strong efforts to control the activities of
unapproved Catholic and Protestant churches; religious services were broken up and church
leaders or adherents were detained and, at times, reportedly beaten. At year's end, some
remained in prison because of their religious activities. Citizens worshiping in
officially sanctioned churches, mosques, and temples reported little or no day-to-day
interference by the Government. The number of religious adherents in many churches, both
registered and unregistered, continued to grow at a rapid pace. In Tibet the reeducation
campaign aimed at monks and nuns was renewed, as was a rhetorical campaign against the
Dalai Lama. (State Department 1)
In particular, Christian groups
have been severely persecuted. Catholic missionaries are treated terribly by Chinese
officials. The Chinese send many defiant religious leaders to labor camps. Devout
Christians are often persecuted in a land where atheism is forced upon the people. The
Chinese are ruthless in their continuing efforts to stamp out Christianity.
Free the Fathers, an organization founded to help
imprisoned and fugitive Christian leaders, says ths about Chinese religious persecution:
Over 200 Priests
are still in prison in China today. Some are in forced labor camps, where they quarry
rock, clear land, or labor in rice paddies. The Chinese Authorities are known to use
hideous tortures on their Priest prisoners. Some have been punished by being kept in
handcuffs 24 hours a day. Protestants are also persecuted. Thousands of "House
Church" members, mainly Baptists, Presbyterians, and Pentecostals, have been arrested
and sent to labor camps.(“Facts About Free the Fathers”)
Recently China has begun to destroy temples and many places of worship. The use of tanks and combat troops to destroy religious centers is not uncommon. The number of temples that have been destroyed is astonishing. The Chinese even destroyed churches during the Christmas season. According to articles on Frank Lu’s website www.89-64.com
China is demolishing
hundreds of churches and temples as it cracks down on unauthorized worship in a
southeastern coastal area known for its flourishing religious life, officials said
Wednesday. A Hong Kong human rights group put the number of destroyed buildings much
higher, at 1,200. The Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said the
buildings, some more than a century old, were being dynamited. Authorities in eastern
China have demolished a 100-year-old temple as part of a campaign that has led to the
destruction or closure of up to 1,200 places of worship, officials said Wednesday. The
United States said Thursday it was "appalled" after it was reported that China
had closed and even blown up a string of unauthorized temples and churches on the eve of
the Christmas season.( “China Blows Up Churches and Temples in Religious
Crackdown”)
In China the crackdown on religious institutions is extremely brutal. People are sentenced to prison for the sole reason of worshiping something other than the Chinese Communist Party. Those Chinese that are arrested because of their religious beliefs are beaten, tortured, and killed by Chinese Police. Here are some shocking stories from various articles on Frank Lu’s Website.
A member of an underground Protestant church has died after being beaten up in prison, a rights group said. Police detained Liu Haitong in a raid on a private home serving as an underground church in Jiaozuo city, Henan province, on September 4, the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said yesterday. Beaten by police and left weakened by the prison's inadequate food and poor hygiene, he began vomiting and developed a high fever, the centre said. It reported that the 19-year-old died in the county jail on Monday after police refused to provide medical care.(“Protestant Dies after Jail Beating”)
Jiang
Mingyuan, a bishop from Henan who was ordained but not by official religious bodies, was
detained in the crackdown on the underground Catholic Church in late August. About 85
Henan Christians were charged under "evil cult" legislation last month. The
crackdown is expected to intensify, according to the human rights center. A Hong-Kong based human rights group
said today that China has indicted 85 members of a Christian sect, the China Fang-Cheng
Church, in a follow-up to the recent detention of 130 of its members and the expulsion of
three American missionaries. (“China Expands Crackdown on Organizations Not
Recognized by the State”)
Works Cited
Free the Fathers. http://www.voyageronline.net/~jdavies/faq.htm
Lu, Frank. “China Blows Up Churches and Temples in Religious Crackdown.” 12 December, 2000. http://www.89-64.com/engpro/messages/1097.html
Lu, Frank. “China Expands
Crackdown on Religious Not Recognized by State” by Pomfret Washington Post Foreign
Service 5 September 2000. http://www.89-64.com/engpro/messages/976.html.
Lu, Frank. “Protestant
dies after jail beating” October 20, 2000. http://www.89-64.com/engpro/messages/1031.html
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