Chen Guangcheng: Lost in America
Foreign Policy’s Isaac Stone Fish talks to legal activist Chen Guangcheng about his acrimonious departure from New York University, his new affiliation with the conservative Witherspoon Institute, and...
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Human Rights Lawyer Xiao Guozhen On Faith and Law
While she writes in an autobiographical essay that she was born in 1972 in Hunan as a “peasant’s child” and received “a red education” that led her to “deeply” love the Party, Xiao Guozhen ended up...
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Christianity and Chinese Exceptionalism
At The New York Review of Books, Ian Johnson reviews two volumes on the past and present of Christianity in China—The Missionary’s Curse and Other Tales from a Chinese Catholic Village by Henrietta...
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Minitrue: Shouwang Church, Three Years On
The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. State Council Information Office: All websites are to delete the article...
View ArticleDissatisfied Chinese Turn to Mao, Jesus, Tibet, Australia
A number of recent articles highlight alternatives to China’s mainstream society and values. The Telegraph’s Malcolm Moore visited a Maoist commune in Hebei founded by old man-slapping Bo Xilai...
View ArticleOfficials: Church Demolition Not Attack on Christianity
Sanjiang Church in Wenzhou was demolished on Monday night after intense resistance from Chinese Christians. Authorities say that parts of the building were illegal, and that the church had been given...
View ArticleChurch-State Clash Coalesces Around a Toppled Spire
Zhejiang officials denied that the demolition of the Sanjiang church in Wenzhou last month was part of a campaign against Christianity. Demolition and cross-removal orders for other churches followed,...
View ArticleChinese Christians Fend Off Church Demolition
Anxieties among Chinese Christians have been stirred this year by a campaign of church demolitions and cross removals, and heightened by fears of collateral damage from a crackdown on cults. On...
View ArticleCrackdown on Fringe Worries Mainstream Churches
Chinese officials arrested six members of the fringe doomsday group Church of Almighty God, also known as Eastern Lightning (东方闪电), after they killed a woman at a Shandong McDonald’s franchise while on...
View ArticleHong Kong Cardinal Warns Pope Against China Visit
As Sino-Vatican relations thaw despite fears of a campaign against churches in Zhejiang, Hong Kong cardinal Joseph Zen has warned Pope Francis not to visit China, saying he would be “manipulated.” Zen...
View ArticleChristian Pastor Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison
Christian pastor Zhang Shaojie has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for fraud and “gathering a crowd to disrupt social order.” Zhang was arrested last November for his role in a land dispute with...
View ArticleHong Kong Catholic Bishops Endorse Civil Disobedience
After Cardinal Joseph Zen described high turnout in Hong Kong’s unofficial democracy referendum as “half a miracle” early this month, three newly appointed Catholic bishops have also spoken publicly...
View ArticleCDT Bookshelf: Howard French on China in Africa
The story of China in Africa is not just one of lumbering and faceless state-owned enterprises mechanically dispensing stadiums according to blueprints wired from Beijing. In China’s Second Continent:...
View ArticleJailed Pastor’s Family Flees to U.S. After Harassment
Three family members of Zhang Shaojie, the Christian pastor who was recently sentenced to 12 years in prison for fraud and “gathering a crowd to disrupt public order,” have reportedly escaped China...
View ArticlePolice Clash With Protesters Over Cross Removal
Christianity has been steadily gaining followers in Wenzhou, Zhejiang since the mid 1800s; in a city sometimes called the “Jerusalem of the East,” an estimated 15% of the local population are...
View ArticleSons of Detained Canadian Christians Defend Parents
The sons of Kevin and Julia Dawn Garratt, two Canadian citizens in Dandong who have been detained on suspicion of “espionage and stealing state secrets,” have defended their parents, calling the...
View ArticleChina to Construct a “Compatible” Christianity
China Daily reports that, with Christianity expected to keep on gaining followers in China, the State Administration for Religious Affairs will “continue to promote the development of Christian...
View ArticleCrackdown on Christian Groups by N. Korea Border
Reuters’ Megha Rajagopalan and James Pearson report that China is clamping down on Christian missionary groups in a bid to stem the flow of immigrants from North Korea. China is cracking down on...
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Minitrue: Crosses Removed from Churches
The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. The name of the issuing body has been omitted to protect the source. The...
View ArticleOn Asia Tour, Pope Francis Reaches Out to China
The Vatican and Beijing have been on uneasy terms since the Communist Party came to power in 1949. Upon Pope Francis I’s ascension last year, Beijing warned him against interfering with China’s...
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