• 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
    • OP-EDS
    • FEATURED
    • TESTIMONIES
  • 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 / Testimonies China

Official Religious Venues Punished for Slightest ‘Mistakes’

01/02/2020Wu Haiping |

The infamous social credit system invades places of worship, as state-run churches and temples are evaluated with points, some closed down for being “substandard.”

by Wu Haiping

The CCP regime often uses the existence of officially-approved places of worship to demonstrate that religious liberty exists in China. In reality, though, even government-approved religious venues have no freedom at all, regardless that they follow all the rules and requirements imposed on them by the authorities. Measures similar to the social credit system have been introduced in some churches, which are evaluated and could be punished or even closed down after points are deducted for disobeying the government.

Shut down for “deficient” national flag

On November 8, a Three-Self church in Lianmeng village, under the jurisdiction of Hengdaohe town in Dongfeng county in the northeastern Jilin Province’s Liaoyuan city, was shut down after an inspection by the local government. The reason – the national flag hanging outside the church was too large, and the signboards displaying church regulations were “in the wrong place.” Also, a box of Bibles and hymnbooks printed by unapproved publishers was found on the premises.

A Three-Self Church was shut down in Lianmeng village.
A Three-Self Church was shut down in Lianmeng village.

On November 6, the Ark Hall (方舟堂fāngzhōu táng), a Three-Self church located in Erlongshan township, administered by Liaoyuan’s Dongfeng county, was closed down.

“Government officials checked every corner of the church,” a congregation member told Bitter Winter. “They said that the color of the national flag was substandard. They also questioned the preacher if the sermons were given following the requirements, distributed by the local Religious Affairs Bureau during a recent conference. The preacher couldn’t answer their questions correctly because he didn’t attend that conference. So, the government shut down the church immediately.”

The Ark Hall church was shut down in Erlongshan township.
The Ark Hall church was shut down in Erlongshan township.

A believer from Hengdaohe town in Dongfeng county revealed that the central government religious work inspection team came to check the area’s places of worship in late November to see if they function in line with the “sinicization” policy. “Inspections are conducted all the time. The government wants to close all the churches,” the believer said.

In October, the local government ordered a Three-Self church in Houjia village in Buhai town under the jurisdiction of Jilin’s Dehui city, to hoist the national flag and display books of traditional Chinese culture, threatening to seal off the church otherwise.

“The government will bring an excavator to demolish our church if they find out that we don’t have the national flag and we don’t study the country’s Constitution or preach the ‘sinicized’ content,” said a Three-Self preacher from Jilin’s Panshi city.

Temples forced to alleviate poverty

“Points can be deducted for not having the national flag, propaganda slogans, fire extinguishers, and similar ‘misdeeds,’” the person in charge of a Buddhist temple in Yangquan city in the northern province of Shanxi told Bitter Winter.

He added that the local Religious Affairs Bureau assigns a manager to each temple, entrusted to oversee the poverty alleviation drive – President Xi Jinping’s policy, launched in 2015, which is supposed to lift out of poverty 70 million impoverished households by 2020. “If they fail to accomplish their tasks as required, they may also lose points. Temple’s religious activity venue permit could be revoked when all points are lost,” the Buddhist explained.

“To avoid any point deductions, I have to follow every instruction issued by the government. I also have to assist each impoverished household in the area by giving them a bag of flour and rice, a large bottle of oil, and some cash, which all comes up to at least 300 RMB [about $ 40] per family,” the person in charge said helplessly. He added that he has to use the money from his retirement pension. When he complained about this to the government, he was threatened that his temple would be shut down if he refused to proceed with poverty alleviation efforts.

The Buddhist revealed that he had lost ten points when he asked for a few days off to see the doctor, even though he was denied them. He added that he often has to change his plans to accommodate demands from the Religious Affairs Bureau, and it’s becoming hard to plan his work because of frequent meetings and inspections by the government.

“You can ignore other calls, but not the ones from the Religious Affairs Bureau. Otherwise, you’ll lose points,” the Buddhist added. “It’s getting difficult to find time to practice my faith or meditate. I’m totally disconcerted; the situation is worsening, and many Buddhists are forced to leave the temple.”

Tagged With: Anti-Religious Campaigns, Three-Self Church

bw-profile
Wu Haiping

Uses a pseudonym for security reasons.

Related articles

  • Release on Bail in China: Do the New Rules Really Make It Easier?

    Release on Bail in China: Do the New Rules Really Make It Easier?

  • Zhao Weikai: Russian-Style Jail Sentence for “Extremism”

    Zhao Weikai: Russian-Style Jail Sentence for “Extremism”

  • China’s Public Security: To Protect Economy, Crack Down on Illegal Religion

    China’s Public Security: To Protect Economy, Crack Down on Illegal Religion

  • Pastor Hao Zhiwei: 8-Year Prison Sentence Confirmed on Appeal

    Pastor Hao Zhiwei: 8-Year Prison Sentence Confirmed on Appeal

Keep Reading

  • Xi’an Church of Abundance: Crackdown on a Historical House Church
    Xi’an Church of Abundance: Crackdown on a Historical House Church

    After 30 years of existence, the theologically mainline church is accused of fraud and of being a xie jiao or a “cult.”

  • Talent Agents New Regulations: No Agents for Those Active in Illegal Religion
    Talent Agents New Regulations: No Agents for Those Active in Illegal Religion

    The new rules come into force on June 30 and deprive of agents’ services performers who criticize the CCP, are suspected of ‘separatism,” or follow non-authorized religions.

  • Christian Pastors Told to Preach in Sermons Confidence in the Party and Xi Jinping
    Christian Pastors Told to Preach in Sermons Confidence in the Party and Xi Jinping

    Christian Churches should implement the conclusions of the recent National Conference on Religion “immediately.”

  • Megastatue of Buddha Destroyed in Sichuan
    Megastatue of Buddha Destroyed in Sichuan

    In Luhuo (Drakgo) a 30-meter-tall statue and its 45 prayer wheels were demolished, generating widespread protests.

Primary Sidebar

Support Bitter Winter

Learn More

Follow us

Newsletter

Most Read

  • France Joins China and Russia by Introducing Special Police Techniques Against “Cults” by Massimo Introvigne
  • “Socialist Spiritual Civilization”: The Great Comeback of an Old CCP Concept by Hu Zimo
  • The Fate of Tibet After the Inevitable: A Tibetan Opinion by Ugyen Gyalpo
  • Ngaba Prefecture, Sichuan: Massive Re-Education to Prevent Tibetan Self-Immolations by Lopsang Gurung
  • Wang Hai: Miao Christian Pastor Still Harassed and Investigated by Mo Yuan
  • L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology, and the Visual Arts. 7. The Scientologist as Artist by Massimo Introvigne
  • Mark Fino: No Asylum in Japan for Evangelist Threatened in Bangladesh by Tom Eskildsen

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