Bitter Winter reported earlier about the harassment from authorities that the House of Eternal Blessing in Fujian and the House of David Church in Guangdong have been suffering in the past few months. Since then, new information has emerged about the predicament of these two house churches.
Hailed by the authorities for years as the “good Muslims” or “model minority,” China’s Hui citizens are experiencing the crackdown on their culture and traditions as part of the anti-Islam campaign in northwestern provinces and regions.
A house church preacher was arrested after she posted on a WeChat group some video footage depicting government’s persecution of religion. As a result, her church was forcibly closed down.
A Buddhist Temple in Fujian Province was razed to the ground because of the local authorities’ plans to use its land for a real estate development with private companies.
Two Protestant Three-Self churches in Henan Province were recently demolished after a round of harassment and without providing to the congregations any credible explanation for their actions.
A member of The Church of Almighty God was arrested and died in detention soon after. Because of injuries on her body, her family believes that mistreatment by the police caused her death.
The police tortured nine co-workers from a house church in Hainan Province, most of them suffered internal injuries as a result.
Nanyang city authorities raided and closed down a meeting venue of the Great Praise house church after its leader refused to join the government-controlled Protestant Three-Self Church.
A local Religious Affairs Bureau in Hubei Province summoned local Buddhists to a meeting about the newly revised Regulations on Religious Affairs. Not only were they required to pay a participation fee, but also had to purchase national flags and fire extinguishers.
After the temple was sealed off in March this year and all the monks were driven away, one of them kept coming back since he had nowhere else to live. Each time he was discovered by local officials who ordered him to leave.