The long-awaited memories of Father Quirino De Ascaniis, a Catholic missionary to China who died in 2009 at age 100, warns against claims by CCP that Chinese enjoys “religious liberty” and offers new insights on the persecution of Catholics in China.
China
Arrested Christians Heavily Fined by CCP
Additional information has emerged about the arrest of 71 believers in Henan’s Shangqiu city. Earlier in August, Bitter Winter reported about the arrest of 71 Christians from a house church in Henan. We have received information that one of them was tortured and ten...
Preachers Detained in a Series of Coordinated Arrests
The authorities carried out a series of arrests in Liaoning, which were pre-planned and designed to target Christians. Bitter Winter has reported extensively about an organized operation, during which the authorities at the end of June carried out mass arrests of...
Three-Self Churches Shut Down, Nearly 3000 Believers Left in Lurch
In an ongoing assault on the Three-Self church, the authorities have shut down more churches in Henan’s Luoyang city. Bitter Winter has reported extensively about how the implementation of the revised Regulations on Religious Affairs affected all religions in China....
Disappearing Crescent Moon and Star Symbols
The CCP authorities continue taking down Islamic symbols from mosques and other buildings in China’s Xinjiang region. The crescent moon and star, commonly recognized as the symbol of the Islamic faith, is disappearing from both secular and religious buildings in...
“Community Correction” Sentences Severely Curtail Freedom
Forced labor camps were shut down, but CCP set up community corrections in its place, which still curtails freedom. In 2013, the Chinese government announced it would be shutting down its numerous forced labor camps and denied it would be setting up the alternative...
Sola Fide Pastor Arrested, Donations Looted
Local authorities in Shandong raid a Christian gathering place and illegally detain a pastor. On July 29, seven police officers in Shandong’s Zibo city raided a sola fide gathering. Also known as justification by faith alone, sola fide is a Christian theological...
House Church Co-Worker Suffers Physical Abuse in Detention
Four years ago, several co-workers and more than 70 believers of a house church in Liangshan prefecture, Sichuan Province, were arrested; one of them was severely beaten while in custody. At noon on March 31, 2014, over ten officers from the National Security Brigade...
More Personal Accounts About Camps in Xinjiang
Despite China's denials about the existence of "transformation through education camps” in Xinjiang, Bitter Winter continues to receive accounts from people detained in such facilities. During China’s review at the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial...
“Then they came for the Hui”: China Tightens Its Persecution of Islam
The demonstration of August 8, 2018, with 30,000 Muslims preventing the demolition of a mosque outside Xinjiang, proves that China is cracking down on Islam per se, not on “Uyghur separatism” only. It is very rare to attend a human rights conference throughout the...









