This Week on CDT, August 15, 2014
A government directive, leaked online, restricts reporting on the removal of crucifixes from churches in Hangzhou and Wenzhou. These Christian symbols were dismantled from government-sanctioned...
View Article5 Members of “Evil Cult” on Trial for Murder
In May, five members of the fringe millenarian Christian group Church of Almighty God, also known as Eastern Lightning (东方闪电), were arrested after fatally attacking a woman who resisted their...
View ArticleChina Broadens Crackdown on Foreign Missionaries
Following the detentions this month of two Canadian Christian activists based by the North Korean border, The Globe and Mail’s Nathan VanderKlippe reports on a broader crackdown on foreign missionaries...
View ArticlePastor Detained Amid China’s Anti-Church Campaign
The Telegraph reports on the detention of a Christian pastor who has been vocal in his opposition to church demolitions in Wenzhou, Zhejiang: A Chinese preacher is facing up to a decade in prison after...
View ArticleNational Goals Murky After Zhejiang Church Razings
While officials in Zhejiang Province have denied that recent church demolitions and cross removals are part of a crackdown on Christianity, crosses continue to disappear and churches to fall in the...
View ArticleSon of Church Founder Tackles Thorny Legacy
The son of Y.T. Wu, the founder of the Three-Self Patriotic Association, China’s state-sanctioned Protestant church, is attempting to rehabilitate his father’s reputation among the country’s...
View ArticleChristianity’s Spread Forces Official Rethink on Religion
As the Chinese public becomes increasingly amenable to organized religion to fill the ideological void left by 35 years of rapid economic growth, the central government remains cautious of the...
View ArticleAmber Scorah on Leaving the Witness in Shanghai
Missionary work is illegal in China, and the government has recently toughened its response to proselytizing both clandestine and perceived. A Canadian couple living near the North Korean border were...
View ArticleCatholic Bishop Detained in China has Died
A 94-year-old Chinese bishop who had been detained in China for the past 14 years has reportedly died, the Associated Press reports: Chinese officials informed the family of Bishop Cosmas Shi Enxiang...
View ArticleRich Chinese Seek Spiritual Fulfillment
The Wall Street Journal’s Wei Gu reports that some of China’s wealthy increasingly favor spiritual and cultural pursuits, with enrollment in courses on subjects like traditional philosophy climbing as...
View ArticleChinese Catholics Seek Answers to Bishop’s Fate
Following reports of Bishop Cosma Shi Enxiang’s death last week, conflicting accounts of his fate and the reluctance of authorities to provide proof of death have left Bishop Shi’s relatives and...
View ArticlePastor Gets One-Year Prison Term in Battle Over Crosses
A Christian pastor who defended churches in Zhejiang against demolition of their crosses in a government crackdown last year has been sentenced to one year in prison. Pastor Huang Yizi was detained in...
View ArticleDraft Regulation on Church Crosses Issued in Zhejiang
After a series of church demolitions and cross removals in Zhejiang Province over the past two years, officials have been accused of engaging in a regional crackdown on Christianity. While a leaked...
View ArticleXinjiang Party Chief Calls for the ‘Sinicization’ of Religion
While addressing a meeting of religious representatives in Urumqi on Sunday, Zhang Chunxian, the CCP’s top official in Xinjiang, said that religion must be “sinicized” in order to combat hostile forces...
View ArticleA Problem of ‘Religion’ and Polling
A recent Gallup poll on global religious trends shows unusually high level of atheism in China, with nearly half of all respondents identifying as atheist. The New York Times’ Ian Johnson reports that...
View ArticleChina Cracks Down on Hong Kong Evangelists
On July 1, Hong Kong-based Lutheran pastor Philip Woo was called to the religious affairs bureau in Shenzhen for his role in organizing training gatherings for mainland church leaders. Woo’s summons to...
View ArticleChristians Protest ‘Evil’ Cross-Removal Campaign
At The Guardian, Tom Phillips reports that Christian leaders in Wenzhou, a historically Christian region in coastal Zhejiang province, last week launched a street protest against the continued forced...
View ArticleOfficial Says Cross Removals for “Safety Concerns”
A resurgence in cross removals at Christian churches in Zhejiang province has again led Christians in the region to suspect an official crackdown on the religion. The Global Times reports that an...
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Badiucao (巴丢草): Shaolin Vows and Zhejiang Crosses
In a recent cartoon, Badiucao focuses on two ongoing cases related to the state control of religion in China: the recent announcement of a pending investigation into Shaolin Monastery abbot Shi Yongxin...
View ArticleZhejiang Official Says Cross Removals Will Continue
As Christians in Zhejiang protest against the forced removal of church crosses, a provincial official has said that the campaign will continue despite rumors that some planned cross demolitions had...
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