Clik here to view.
Wenzhou Internet Police: May We Follow This User?
A request from the Wenzhou Internet police to surveil a Weibo user posting about church crosses has been making the rounds on Weibo and Twitter: On August 23, 2015 at 8:29 p.m., Internet user...
View ArticleChristians Who Opposed Cross Removals Detained
Since 2013, over 1,200 crosses have been removed from Christian churches in Zhejiang province and several houses of worship in the region have been demolished. This summer, the removals and...
View ArticleChinese Rights Lawyer Could Face Spying Charges
Beijing-based rights lawyer Zhang Kai is being held by Zhejiang authorities on suspicion of spying and disturbing public order after offering advice to local churches facing cross removals. The...
View ArticleLawyer Describes Torture, Blasts U.S. “Accomplices”
Veteran rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng was reportedly unable to speak intelligibly when he emerged from his latest imprisonment a year ago. In an interview with the Associated Press, Gao details the abuse...
View ArticleLeading Pastor Probed on Suspicion of Embezzlement
At TIME, Rishi Iyengar reports that Pastor Gu Yuese of Zhejiang’s Chongyi Church has been detained on suspicion of embezzlement. Chongyi is currently the largest state-sanctioned Protestant Church in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Rebel Pepper (变态辣椒): Zhang Kai on the Cross
Cartoonist Rebel Pepper comments on the recent televised confession by lawyer Zhang Kai, who had worked with Christians in Wenzhou, Zhejiang to fight the government removal of crosses there. Zhang Kai...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Minitrue: 21 Rules on Coverage of the Two Sessions
The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. The Central Propaganda Department issued 21 rules for reporting on the...
View ArticleChina Releases Christian Human Rights Lawyer
Christian rights lawyer Zhang Kai announced on social media on Wednesday that he has been released by Chinese authorities after several months in detention. Zhang was taken into custody in Wenzhou last...
View ArticleXi Warns of Foreign Infiltration Through Religion
Addressing top government officials at a two-day national conference on religion this past weekend, Chinese President Xi Jinping warned that China must defend against extremist ideology and potential...
View ArticleWhy China Fears Christianity
Long distrustful of religion for its potential to erode public support for the Party, Beijing has in recent years been paying special attention to Christianity as the faith has been gaining followers...
View ArticlePope Seeks Improved China Relations Amid Crackdown
Talks are underway between the Vatican and Beijing to secure an agreement involving the selection and ordination of bishops in China. The Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association—a body overseen by...
View ArticleSome Catholics Don’t Share Pope’s Optimism on China
Speaking in the northern Italian city of Pordenone this Saturday, Pope Francis declared his high hopes for warming relations with Beijing. China cut off formal relations with the Vatican in 1951, and...
View ArticleChina Frees Canadian Held for Over Two Years [Updated]
Kevin Garratt, the Canadian citizen who was detained in China on August 4, 2014 along with his wife Julia Dawn Garratt, has at last reunited with his family in Canada after being deported by Chinese...
View ArticleVatican’s Ordination Deal With Beijing Draws Criticism
Relations between the Vatican and China have been uneasy since the CCP took charge of the country in 1949. Beijing broke off diplomatic relations with the Holy See in 1951, and in 1957 established the...
View Article“Christian Theme Park” in Changsha Irks Neo-Maoists
A “Christian theme park” in Hunan, the home province of Mao Zedong, is drawing intense criticism from some Chinese web users. The “theme park” recently opened in Changsha—Mao Zedong’s stomping grounds...
View ArticleReligious Repression and Revival in China
U.S.-based democracy and human rights advocacy group Freedom House this week released the report “The Battle for China’s Spirit: Religious Revival, Repression, and Resistance Under Xi Jinping,” a close...
View ArticleSurveillance Cameras Installed in Churches
Churches in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, a heavily Christian area, have been required to install surveillance cameras in- and outside their buildings. Alice Yan at The South China Morning Post reports: An...
View ArticleChina Lashes Out at U.S. After Religious Freedom Report
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson yesterday delivered public remarks from Washington to mark the release of the State Department’s 2016 International Religious Freedom Report. The report, which...
View Article“Pope Francis Does Not Understand the CCP”
The Chinese government’s unauthorized appointment of Catholic bishops has been a major point of contention between Beijing and the Vatican. To reconnect with Catholics in the country, Pope Francis has...
View ArticleU.N. Condemns Political Detentions in China
The Guardian’s Benjamin Haas reported on Friday on an unreleased U.N. Human Rights Council report condemning China’s treatment of three political prisoners, church leader Hu Shigen and lawyers Zhou...
View Article