The government has dismissed leaders of official churches in Henan for not implementing central government policies sufficiently. After the implementation of the new Regulations on Religious Affairs, Cultural Revolution-style religious management policies are back in...
News China
Authorities in Henan Order the Suppression of The Church of Almighty God
Bitter Winter has received a classified document revealing the organized crackdown on The Church of Almighty God in Henan. The document, issued by an office that deals with the prevention of heterodox religious movements in one of Henan’s cities, states that The...
Government Buildings Converted into Camps for Muslims
Schools and other state-owned buildings in Wusu city, Xinjiang, are being converted into “transformation through education” camps for Uyghur Muslims. According to an informed source, a Party school in Wusu has recently been turned into a “transformation through...
Chinese Ministry of State Security Takes Over the Campaign Against Bitter Winter
Since the arrests of reporters did not stop Bitter Winter, China escalates the campaign against our magazine and adopts extraordinary measures to prevent the leaks of secret documents. Bitter Winter reported on August 1 that several reporters that have sent...
New Catholic Document on Death Penalty Likely to Create Problems for the Vatican-China Dialogue
On August 2, Pope Francis declared the death penalty “always inadmissible” and promised a vigorous action by the Catholic Church to eliminate it throughout the world. At least 60% of the world’s executions every year happen in China. On August 2, 2018, the Vatican...
Nine NGOs write to Angela Merkel: “Do Not Deport Sister Zhao Back to China”
Germany plans to deport back to China a member of The Church of Almighty God detained in Ingelheim. Nine NGOs tell Chancellor Merkel that in China she will be arrested and may be tortured. Nine NGOs active in the field of religious liberty wrote on August 1 to German...
Uyghur Muslim Shot Dead After Massive Manhunt
Pazil Utuⱪ, an Uyghur Muslim from an old and well-known Muslim family in Xinjiang, was shot dead after a massive manhunt mobilizing over 70,000 people. Thirty-year-old Pazil Utuⱪ, an ethnic Uyghur, came from an old and well-known Muslim family, which explains the...
Arrested for Sending Reports to Bitter Winter
The Chinese police launched a national operation against Bitter Winter. Reporters and others who sent information to us were arrested, while false rumors about our magazine are being spread We received reports from China that, irritated by the publication of news and...
New Efforts to Hunt Down Believers in Almighty God
An internal Communist Party document reveals a year-long campaign against The Church of Almighty God in Shanxi. Bitter Winter obtained an internal document of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government exposing a year-long campaign to crack down on The Church of...
Members of The Church of Almighty God On the Run Arrested Through the Use of China’s Global Surveillance System
As soon as fugitives use their credit card or show their ID documents for hotel check-in or for purchasing a train ticket, they are identified and arrested. On July 14, Bitter Winter reported that on June 26 at least 500 members of The Church of Almighty God, a...









