Church raided amid escalating crackdown

Plainclothes officials raid an unregistered
church in Guizhou. (Photo: ChinaAid)

Posted at ChinaAid:

(Xuzhou, Jiangsu—Sept. 12, 2018) A church in China’s southeastern Jiangsu province was raided by the local religious management department and public security bureau on Friday.

The officials entered Dao’en Church on Sept. 7 and alleged it had not registered with the government before holding religious events, rendering their activities illegal. In China, regulations specify religious devotees may only hold services in state-approved venues, but such buildings are monitored by the Communist Party, which reviews all teachings before they are preached for statements arbitrarily deemed dangerous to its rule and imposes propaganda.

Dao’en Church’s leaders negotiated with the religious affairs bureau, but the authorities refused to relent and forbade Christians from gathering there.

Out of the church’s five branches, three of them have been forcibly closed, and government departments pressured the landlords not to renew their leases.

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