• 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

Xie Jiao-Free Communities Help Crush Banned Religious Groups

08/30/2020Gu Xi |

Local governments across China urge to create “model” towns or villages without residents who are members of religious groups labeled “heterodox teachings.”

by Gu Xi

The Shaoxing city government in the eastern province of Zhejiang announced on its website at the beginning of the summer that 50 percent of villages and communities in the city’s Keqiao district would be xie jiao-free by the end of June. Meaning, that the number of members of banned religious groups residing in these localities is reduced by at least 90 percent, or they are eliminated completely after appropriate indoctrination and propaganda measures have been implemented. Last year, 19 villages were proclaimed “no-cult” in the district, which strives to become one of the “100 counties, 1,000 townships, and 10,000 villages free of xie jiao.” This project was launched nationwide in 2014 by the central government institutions in charge of anti-xie jiao work to aid in implementing the CCP’s plan to eradicate all banned religious groups.

The Shaoxing city announcement about xie jiao-free villages in the Keqiao district.
The Shaoxing city announcement about xie jiao-free villages in the Keqiao district.

Lists of xie jiao, often misleadingly translated as “evil cults,” were first created in the late Ming dynasty (1368-1644). They were reintroduced in 1995 by the CCP, which regards all independent religious movements, especially those growing rapidly, hostile to its regime. Being active in a xie jiao is a crime, punishable by article 300 of the Chinese Criminal Code with a jail penalty of three to seven years “or more.”

At the top of the xie jiao list are Falun Gong and The Church of Almighty God (CAG). In 2019, at least 26,683 CAG members and 3,582 Falun Gong practitioners were harassed, while 6,132 and 6,109, respectively, were arrested.

Following President Xi Jinping’s directive that “opposing xie jiao is important for national security, as well as to win over the will of the people,” anti-xie jiao campaigns are treated as a major prerequisite to maintain state security.

Some documents accessed by Bitter Winter that have been issued by authorities in Guangdong and Fujian provinces detail various aspects of establishing xie jiao-free communities. Those include organizational changes within government institutions and crackdowns on religious groups, transformation through education of their members, and propaganda to manipulate public opinion. 

A register by the Jinxin village committee in Guangdong Province’s Enping city on becoming a xie jiao-free model village.
A register by the Jinxin village committee in Guangdong Province’s Enping city on becoming a xie jiao-free model village.

The documents demand to incorporate achievements in the anti-xie jiao field by local officials into their work assessment and general performance by grassroots Party organizations or grid administrations. Full- or part-time anti-xie jiao teams are encouraged to be formed in localities to ensure systematic crackdowns on banned religious groups.

A student reads anti-xie jiao materials on a school campus in Guangdong’s Enping city in June.
A student reads anti-xie jiao materials on a school campus in Guangdong’s Enping city in June.

Local governments are also demanded to establish incentivized tip-off systems and form groups of citizen informers to patrol communities and carry out active surveillance of believers. Identified members of banned religious groups are “transformed through education” in personalized “classes,” ensuring that all Falun Gong practitioners and more than 90 percent of CAG members are transformed.

Residents of Enping city’s villages had to attend numerous anti-xie jiao events in June.
Residents of Enping city’s villages had to attend numerous anti-xie jiao events in June.

To achieve these goals, members of banned religious groups face long-term indoctrination and high-pressure surveillance even after they are released from detention until they sign three statements—guarantee, repentance, and criticism—promising to renounce their faith. Unable to endure such physical and mental torment, some believers take their lives.

The documents also foresee regular propaganda activities to indoctrinate the population, ensuring that most of them are informed about the “dangers” posed by xie jiao.

Hanzhai village in Yongcheng, a county-level city in the central province of Henan, has been named a xie jiao-free area. Specially created propaganda venues, as well as anti-xie jiao signs and banners, are ubiquitous in the village.

Participants of an anti-xie jiao activity in August at a park in the Yantian district of Guangdong’s Shenzhen city.
Participants of an anti-xie jiao activity in August at a park in the Yantian district of Guangdong’s Shenzhen city.

“After my family heard messages about banned religious groups on loudspeakers in the village, they started pressuring me to give up my faith out of fear that I may be arrested, and they will be implicated,” a CAG member from Hanzhai told Bitter Winter.

Young people attend training about reporting on xie jiao members at an anti-xie jiao education base in the Yantian district in August.
Young people attend training about reporting on xie jiao members at an anti-xie jiao education base in the Yantian district in August.

A CAG member from Fujian Province explained that the government demands to carry out anti-xie jiao propaganda in schools, state institutions, and residential communities. “CAG members are investigated and threatened at work, and their children are demanded to report on their religious family members,” the believer said. “Propaganda banners and bulletin boards slandering and defaming religious beliefs can be seen in streets and parks. People are demanded to report on people of faith to the police. We may be reported every time we meet. This kind of tremendous mental pressure is unbearable.”

Tagged With: Religious Persecution, Xie Jiao Organizations

bw-profile
Gu Xi

Uses a pseudonym for security reasons.

Related articles

  • Covenant Home Church Banned in Shanxi

    Covenant Home Church Banned in Shanxi

  • Christian from Wenzhou Prosecuted in Sichuan

    Christian from Wenzhou Prosecuted in Sichuan

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

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

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

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

Keep Reading

  • 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.

  • Falun Gong’s Report on Persecution in 2022: 172 Killed, 633 Sentenced
    Falun Gong’s Report on Persecution in 2022: 172 Killed, 633 Sentenced

    Believable figures show that practitioners continue to be mercilessly hunted.

  • The U.S. Department of State 2023 Religious Freedom Report: Excellent on Enemies, Soft on Allies
    The U.S. Department of State 2023 Religious Freedom Report: Excellent on Enemies, Soft on Allies

    A masterful description of the wrongdoings of China, Russia, Iran, and Pakistan is accompanied by some understatements on FoRB violations by U.S. political allies.

  • 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 

    Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali told the Parliament that the Torah and the Gospel are “canceled” scriptures. He has not been censored.

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
  • The Last Words of a Uyghur Father: A Son’s Memory by Abdurehim Gheni Uyghur
  • Xi Jinping: Beijing’ National Art Museum Is Not Socialist Enough by Hu Zimo
  • Occupied Ukraine: Anti-Cult “Experts” Target Moscow Patriarchate Dissident Priest by Massimo Introvigne
  • Chinese Agents Tried to Bribe U.S. Tax Officer in Anti-Falun-Gong Plot by Massimo Introvigne
  • Russia: Lunatic Theory that Yellowstone Volcano Caused the War in Ukraine Gains Momentum by Massimo Introvigne
  • Vandalism Against Catholic Churches on the Rise in Bavaria by PierLuigi Zoccatelli

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