Christians in China--an ominous trend

We hear liberals praising China repeatedly. Thomas Friedman, famous New York Times prize-winning columnist, gushed over China in several columns. But this country's dictatorial leaders are cracking down on Christians who consider God, not the Communist Party, the head of the church.

Take the example of Shouwang Church, one of Beijing's largest unsanctioned "house" churches. The Wall Street Journal reported recently that since early April, police have prevented church members from gathering for normal Sunday worship services. Hundreds have been detained for short periods, and the entire church leadership has been under house arrest since April. This church, whose 1,000-strong congregation is mostly upscale professionals, actually paid $4 million for meeting space in a Beijing office building. But under pressure from the authorities, the sellers refused to hand over the keys, leaving the church with no place to meet.

China tolerates Christian church services, but only within the narrow boundaries of theology and church life dictated by the State Administration for Religious Affairs. Estimates of the number of Christians in China vary widely, ranging from a government figure of about 20 million for its own churches to that of outside observers who say the total is as high as 130 million.

Most Chinese Christians belong to unofficial house churches like Shouwang, which reject Communist Party-controlled theology and consider God—not the Communist Party—the head of the church. The number of house-church Christians, while hard to estimate, is likely more than 60 million.

The recent crackdown on house-church Christians is the outgrowth of a Communist Party initiative launched last December, called "Operation Deterrence," to force all house-church Christians to be incorporated with the government. In light of the savage treatment of practitioners of Falun Gong, a meditation group brutally repressed since 1999, the implications of "Operation Deterrence" are alarming.

Why hasn't Shouwang Church agreed to join the government organization? It claims this government administration was an outdated product of the Cold War, and that the faith that the government allows is what church history calls liberal theology, while the faith of the house churches is evangelical theology.

Evangelical churches around the world, of course, have always stressed the need for Christians to share their faith. But the Chinese government forbids its churches to evangelize. Last autumn, the Lausanne Conference on World Evangelism was held , but authorities blocked some 200 invited Chinese house-church representatives from leaving China.

This crackdown on Christians is part of a rising tide of repression against dissent that's often accompanied by interrogations and torture. Recently, the wife of blind human rights activist Chen Guangcheng said that she and her husband were beaten and tortured for several hours by a gang of plainclothes thugs led by the village Communist Party secretary. Worryingly, some of the Shouwang church detainees found government church representatives taking part in the police interrogations, "educating" and "rebuking" the Shouwang Christians. Incredibly, a key government official denies that house churches even exist.

We need to join groups like Open Doors and Voice of the Martyrs to keep pressure on China and help to shed light on the ongoing repression of our fellow Christians in China.