A Politburo Member’s Visit to Henan Leaves a Trail of Stifled Religious Venues

Bitter Winter ^ | 7/8/19 | Li Changshan

[marshmallow]

Eager to prove to higher-ups their gusto in suppressing religions, Xingyang city authorities shattered numerous Christian and folk religion places of worship.

From April 15 to 17, Wang Yang – a member of the Central Politburo Standing Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference – visited the central province of Henan to inspect religious work and investigate rural religious venues. During his meetings in the cities of Kaifeng and Zhoukou, the provincial capital Zhengzhou, and other localities, he emphasized the need to strengthen the Communist Party’s leadership in religious work and to “actively explore effective ways to ‘sinicize’ religion.”

Five churches repurposed within three days

From April 27 to 30, no fewer than five churches – government-approved Three-Self and house churches alike –were repurposed, leaving believers with no place to practice their faith.

Three spires on a Three-Self church in Gaoshan town were dismantled on April 30, and a signboard “Activity Center of Shidonggou Village, Gaoshan Town, Xingyang City” was put up on the church’s exterior wall.

Two days before, a True Jesus house church in Chengguan township’s Taoli village was converted into a cultural activity center, after officials bullied the congregation into agreeing to the takeover, threatening to demolish the church building if they refused.

Enthused by the visit, local governments took to action suppressing people of faith. In one of the visited localities under the jurisdiction of Zhengzhou – Xingyang, a county-level city with 630,000 residents, – at least half a hundred of religious venues in its 16 township-level administrative divisions were subjected to severe crackdowns.

[txrefugee]

No trading with the enemies of Jesus. We should remember our Christian brothers and sisters in China in our prayers.