Chinese Christians are being forced to replace items such as crosses in their homes with portraits of Chinese president Xi Jinping, according to a magazine that focuses on religious liberty and human rights in China.
The magazine Bitter Winter says an 84-year-old Christian in Shawn-xi Province was among those in at least five provinces ordered to remove Christian images and symbols from their homes. The woman was threatened with withdrawal of her social welfare benefits, which help pay for her food.
“The township [Chinese Communist] Party [CCP] secretary asked me to take down and throw away the cross and told me to pray to Xi Jinping from then on,” the unidentified Christian told Bitter Winter. “Xi Jinping is a man, not God. I feel saddened for the cross being taken down, but there is nothing I can do.”
The measures appear to be part of a stepped-up campaign against groups deemed a threat to the rule of the CCP since Xi became president in 2013. The previous year, the party had formulated five new “black categories” of groups to be quelled – human rights lawyers, underground religious bodies such as house churches, dissidents, commentators on the Internet and disadvantaged social groups.
Growing Christian population
Willy Wo-Lap Lam, Hong Kong-based author of “The Fight for China’s Future,” noted in a recent address at the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents Club that Xi has put churches under pressure, including ubiquitous surveillance, because he feels threatened that Christians will outnumber party members within 15 years.
“Whatever the churches might be doing, they are recorded, and their activities are being made known to the authorities,” Lam said. “But nonetheless, the good news is that these several million Christians have been able to maintain a nationwide organization, and if the opportunity arises, they can be very forthcoming regarding the freedom of expression, the freedom of religion, and they are willing to risk their personal freedom to seek a world where religion can be observed freely.”
New religious regulations that went into effect on Feb. 1 give local officials power to close unregistered house churches and monitor the legally recognized Three-Self Patriotic Movement congregations.
The multiple cameras at Three-Self churches are connected to public security organs so that churches failing to follow the new, more restrictive regulations can be closed. Facial recognition technology can be used to identify people by means of 176 million CCTV cameras that China has installed in public places throughout the country, with 450 million such cameras expected to be operational by the end of this year.
Increased surveillance
High-tech surveillance has become an essential tool for authorities to regulate and suppress religious belief, Bitter Winter reported.
“Unlike house [unregistered] churches, members of Three-Self churches are seemingly allowed to hold religious gatherings,” the group noted. “In reality, though, intrusive surveillance systems, such as the Sharp Eyes Project, have long been introduced into state-run churches, with cameras installed even in washrooms of some places of worship, to ensure comprehensive monitoring.”
Of the millions of CCTV cameras, China has installed at least 20 million with advanced facial recognition software to help in the effort to establish its “social credit system” for monitoring perceived loyalty and dissent, according to Lam.
Surveillance can lead to church closures. In Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province, county officials recently implemented a system of “standardized assessment of religious venues” for state-approved places of worship. Among 50 possible violations: clergy members leaving the county without prior approval (a three-point demerit); not raising the national flag (five points); or failure to proactively give ‘sinicized’ sermons – preaching that elevates preservation of communist China as the ultimate goal (eight points).
“Each venue with a score under 70 points (out of 100) will be considered a “substandard” and can be closed down,” Bitter Winter reported. “Similar assessment practices, reminiscent of the infamous social credit system, have been implemented at some churches in other places and are becoming more and more prevalent in the country.”
China is included on a 2018 U.S. list of Countries of Particular Concern for severe religious rights violations. China also ranks No. 23 on Open Doors’ 2020 World Watch List.
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