• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • ABOUT CHINA
    • NEWS
    • TESTIMONIES
    • OP-EDS
    • FEATURED
    • GLOSSARY
    • CHINA PERSECUTION MAP
  • FROM THE WORLD
    • NEWS GLOBAL
    • TESTIMONIES GLOBAL
    • OP-EDS GLOBAL
    • FEATURED GLOBAL
  • INTERVIEWS
  • DOCUMENTS AND TRANSLATIONS
    • DOCUMENTS
    • THE TAI JI MEN CASE
    • TRANSLATIONS
    • EVENTS
  • ABOUT
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
  • TOPICS

Bitter Winter

A magazine on religious liberty and human rights

three friends of winter
Home / China / News China

CCP Fearful of Religious “Infiltration” from Vietnam Among Mien Minority

11/10/2021Liang Changpu |

Border villages in Guangxi are under surveillance and targeted by propaganda against “cults” and Christian groups.

by Liang Changpu

Mien villagers received propaganda against “infiltration” of xie jiao and “illegal religion.” From Weibo.
Mien villagers received propaganda against “infiltration” of xie jiao and “illegal religion.” From Weibo.

Since the last month of October, villagers at Tongmian township, Aidian town, Nanan township, and Zhilang township in Ningming county, Guangxi autonomous region, at the border between China and Vietnam, noticed an increased surveillance of their villages by the Border Police.

“Legal Education” officers have also appeared in the villages, distributing propaganda material and warning villagers against “infiltration” of xie jiao (a word translated as “evil cults” but in fact meaning “heterodox teachings” and indicating a variety of groups banned by the government) and “illegal religion” from Vietnam.

Many of the villagers belong to the Mien ethnic group, which is recognized by Chinese authorities under the name “Yao,” which the Mien do not like since it means “savages.” The Mien have their own ancestral religion, called by Chinese scholars “Yao Taoism,” another controversial term and one Mien believe is used to “Sinicize” their culture, and have become a tourist attraction. Many of them have recently converted to Christianity.

A “Legal Education officer” gives propaganda material to a villager. From Weibo.
A “Legal Education officer” gives propaganda material to a villager. From Weibo.

Vietnam has a policy about religion that cannot be compared to religious liberty in democratic countries, yet is more liberal than China’s. Christian groups move more freely, indigenous new religious movements, although occasionally repressed or controlled by the government that tries to select their leaders, are flourishing, and even Falun Gong, while theoretically illegal, is still active.

Villagers in Ningming country are afraid that, under the pretext of fighting the xie jiao, the current campaign will increase the surveillance of all religious activities. Traditional Mien religion is presented to tourists as part of local folklore. On the other hand, chicken bones divination and other ancient practices are frequently criticized and ridiculed by Party cadres and police officers, much to the annoyance of the villagers.

Tagged With: Religious Persecution, Vietnam, Xie Jiao Organizations

bw-profile
Liang Changpu

Uses a pseudonym for security reasons.

Related articles

  • The Chitrali Case: In Pakistan, MPs Can Insult Religious Minorities and Get Away with It 

    The Chitrali Case: In Pakistan, MPs Can Insult Religious Minorities and Get Away with It 

  • Former Anti-Cult Boss Peng Bo Sentenced to 14 Years in Jail

    Former Anti-Cult Boss Peng Bo Sentenced to 14 Years in Jail

  • Vandalism Against Catholic Churches on the Rise in Bavaria

    Vandalism Against Catholic Churches on the Rise in Bavaria

  • Why We Should Protect Chinese Refugees from the Long Harm of Xi Jinping

    Why We Should Protect Chinese Refugees from the Long Harm of Xi Jinping

Keep Reading

  • Wang Zang and Wang Li: Marry a Poet and Go to Jail
    Wang Zang and Wang Li: Marry a Poet and Go to Jail

    The poet was sentenced for protesting against the repression of Tibetans, Uyghurs, Hong Kong democrats, and Falun Gong practitioners. His wife just for being his wife.

  • After 26 Years, Uyghurs Remember the Ghulja Massacre
    After 26 Years, Uyghurs Remember the Ghulja Massacre

    On February 5, 1997, a peaceful protest was transformed into a bloodbath by the Chinese police and soldiers. 

  • Iran: “Christians Are Constantly Watched as Spies”
    Iran: “Christians Are Constantly Watched as Spies”

    A conversation with Pastor Dabrina Bet-Tamraz from Iran before she testified at the European Parliament in Brussels.

  • Pakistan: Bishops’ Patience Exhausted After Killings at Catholic School
    Pakistan: Bishops’ Patience Exhausted After Killings at Catholic School

    Two young girls were killed and five injured. “We are targeted both because we are Catholic and because we educate girls,” the Bishops said.

Primary Sidebar

Support Bitter Winter

Learn More

Follow us

Newsletter

Most Read

  • There Are Christian Uyghurs, Too: New Organization Launched in London by Ruth Ingram
  • Hui Muslims Clash with Police Over Mosque’s “Sinicization” by Ma Guangyao
  • Russia: Lunatic Theory that Yellowstone Volcano Caused the War in Ukraine Gains Momentum by Massimo Introvigne
  • Xi Jinping: Beijing’ National Art Museum Is Not Socialist Enough by Hu Zimo
  • Hong-Kong-Style National Security Law Comes to Macau by Gladys Kwok
  • Vandalism Against Catholic Churches on the Rise in Bavaria by PierLuigi Zoccatelli
  • Pakistan: Bishops’ Patience Exhausted After Killings at Catholic School by Daniela Bovolenta

CHINA PERSECUTION MAP -SEARCH NEWS BY REGION

clickable geographical map of china, with regions

Footer

EDITORIAL BOARD

Editor-in-Chief

MASSIMO INTROVIGNE

Director-in-Charge

MARCO RESPINTI

ADDRESS

CESNUR

Via Confienza 19,

10121 Turin, Italy,

Phone: 39-011-541950

E-MAIL

We welcome submission of unpublished contributions, news, and photographs. Each submission implies the authorization for us to edit and publish texts and photographs. We reserve the right to decide which submissions are suitable for publication. Please, write to INFO@BITTERWINTER.ORG Thank you.

Newsletter

LINKS

orlir-logo hrwf-logo cesnur-logo

Copyright © 2023 · Bitter Winter · PRIVACY POLICY· COOKIE POLICY