Xi Jinping is the President and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China. Courtesy photo
China has upped its persecution of Christians, with Communist Party officials in Guangzhou offering a hefty reward to those who can provide information about underground churches, secret Christians, and others involved in “illegal” religious activity.
This development comes days since UG Christian News learnt that officials in the world’s most populous country, claimed “Western forces” are trying to use Christianity to influence its society and even “subvert” the government, warning Christians there to follow the Chinese model of the religion.
Guangzhou’s Department of Ethnic and Religious Affairs announced on its website that it would pay up to 10,000 Chinese yuan (around $1,500) for information leading to the arrest of Christian and other religious leaders, the Epoch Times reports.
Smaller rewards are offered for information about churches and other religious meeting places built or used without permission from authorities.
According to Open Doors, an international charity organsation that serves persecuted Christians worldwide in more than 60 countries, China has set up reporting boxes in villages, phone lines and websites.
The regulation, called “Incentives to Motivate the Masses to Report on Illegal Religious Activities,” will provide clues and assistance to “relevant government departments” for tracking down “illegal religious groups or members.”
Guangzhou authorities characterized “illegal activities” as establishing places of religious worship without government approval; holding religious activities in non-religious institutions or locations; accepting religious donations; organizing Chinese citizens to go abroad for religious activities such as seminars, meetings, or worship without approval; or providing religious education without approval.
Bob Fu, founder of the persecution watchdog China Aid, told Voice of America the new regulations will significantly increase the persecution of Christians in the officially atheist country.
“Inciting people to report on others with monetary incentives, which is beyond the bottom line of morality, only appeared during the Cultural Revolution, when children would report their parents, a wife would report her husband, and colleagues would report one another,” Fu said.
Persecution of Christians in China has ramped up since 2016, when Chinese leader Xi Jinping announced the government’s policy of reducing Western influence on religion and making it “more Chinese,” a process dubbed sinicization.
Recently, Chinese authorities arrested just over 40 Christians worshiping in homes after the closure of Chengdu’s Early Rain Covenant Church. Their arrests came after over 160 more arrests of church members were made last year.
China ranks as the 27th worst nation in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USA’s World Watch List.
Added reporting by News Agencies
