BEIJING, China — A plan for aligning Christian music with the ideology of China’s government was released in May.
The plan — called “Sacred Music Ministry Blueprint for 2025” — was announced May 7 during a meeting of the Two Associations of Christianity of Beijing City. The meeting about the sinicization of sacred music was attended by 40 church and ministry leaders, reports the rights group ChinaAid.
Sinicization in this sense, according to ChinaAid, is the effort to make “Christian” entities approved by the government to align their values and theology with those of the Chinese Communist Party.
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“With the core goal of ‘advancing the sinicization of sacred music,’ this plan, though seemingly aimed at developing church music, carries deeper implications, sparking widespread concern over the Chinese government’s further intervention in and control of Christian faith,” explains ChinaAid.
Among the steps outlined in the blueprint are “development of an original song library with Chinese characteristics,” “hosting of concerts with a sinicization theme” and “integration of government-controlled sacred music modules into church apps.”
“China’s online space for Christianity has been under severe restrictions” for several years, says ChinaAid. “A large quantity of Christian music resources have been removed. … Apps that were once popular among Christians on mainland China … were forcibly shut down.”
The recently released blueprint, notes ChinaAid, “appears to be aimed at eliminating music content deemed noncompliant by authorities and establishing a sacred music system that is state-controlled and politically aligned with the government. … Even hymns of praise to God are not exempt from the fate of being sinicized.”
World Watch
China is No. 15 on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of the 50 places most difficult to be a Christian.
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