In Chains: Christian Persecution - 2019, Issue 1

New Year, Not a
New Leaf
Laura Murray
Despite the new year, the Chinese
government is not charting a new path. It is
continuing to crack down on those it deems
unfaithful to the Communist party, and that
would include Christians. This process is
termed “Sinicization” by the current Chinese
President Xi Jinping. Sinicization imposes
regulations on religious institutions in order
to ensure that the beliefs of the religion
center on what the government wants
taught.
Although this process of sinicization is new
to modern China, starting in 2018,
persecution of Christians has been going on
for quite a long time. This new process gives
legality to many of the practices that have
already been in place. It is also emboldening
the local governing bodies to reach even
further, into the private lives of citizens.
In Shanxi Province, Bitter Winter obtained a
document titled, “Implementation Plan on
the Special Governance of Private Christian
Gathering Sites.” In Henan Province, Bitter
Winter obtained a document entitled “Key
Tasks of Phase Three and Division of Labor
of Units Directly Under the Country
Government.” These documents lay out how
the government is to remove Christian
gathering sites around educational facilities.
In addition, the churches are to submit the
names of all students in their congregations.
Students and teachers will need to be “reeducated”
in accordance with the law.
Should someone need to be sent to be reeducated,
they are sent to an indoctrination
camp. There, they are subjected to torture in
an effort to get the person to blaspheme the
name of Jesus or denounce their faith. Some
are physically tortured, some are mentally
tortured, and others are subjected to both.
Jian Yongjiu stated, “For a person of faith,
being subjected to mandatory indoctrination
not only causes mental anguish but more so,
the soul is subjected to unbearable
repression and agony.”
In Xingtai, Hebei Province, as well as
Shandong and Henan, the authorities issued
an open letter forbidding underage children
from accessing religious venues. Not only
should parents not take their children to
church, but schools are also obligated in
preventing children access to religion.
This is all in the midst of a social media
crackdown by China. There are several
social media platforms that are forbidden in
China, such as Twitter and Facebook. Any
and all users face detention, which can
include assault and torture, simply for using
social media. This is because the Chinese
government wants to control what the
people see/hear about the world and what
the rest of the world sees/hears about China.