An activist fighting for the rights of villagers in Fujian was recently sentenced to 11 years in prison. Bitter Winter looks back at the events that have led to the arrest of Li Xinlin and six others whose trial has been disguised by the Chinese authorities as the “fight against organized crime.”
In early September, the local authorities closed down the Shepherd’s House Church in the province’s Qingyuan city.
Reports about arrested priests and closed down churches suggest that the authorities are not prepared to ease on the persecution of underground Catholic churches after the Vatican-China agreement.
In Fujian, several priests are being forced to cease their underground Sunday classes. One of them has been controlled and monitored by the government since 2001.
In several cities across China, the officials are intensifying their campaign against religion by carrying out propaganda work at schools
After refusing to sign a document renouncing her faith, a believer in Almighty God was sent to a forced indoctrination class where she died under suspicious circumstances.
Authorities also arrested its female preacher and seized assets from the church.
In the past two decades, he has suffered persecution from authorities because of his religious belief.
Authorities in this city of Guangdong Province have shut down various house churches as part of a well-planned strategy of religious persecution.
Worshipers were forced to either completely close down their gathering places or start meeting in small groups after a sequence of crackdowns on house churches that adhere to head-covering tradition.