The Chinese authorities have launched a crackdown against one of the country’s largest unregistered Christian congregations, Zion Church, detaining dozens of pastors and members across multiple provinces.
The operation, the biggest against Christians since 2018, came amid tensions between China and the US and Beijing’s restriction on the export of rare earth materials, Reuters reported.
- The authorities carried out simultaneous raids across five provinces, as well as Beijing and Shanghai.
- Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, who is the head of Zion church, was also detained from his home in Beihai, Guangxi Province, ANI reported.
- The church said its worship halls were sealed, property seized, and families of its members harassed, ANI quoted a statement released by Zion Church as saying.
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“Our detained pastors and believers are innocent Christians whose only act is worshipping God, preaching the Gospel, and serving their communities,” the church said in the statement.
The move has received condemnation from rights bodies and the US State Department.
What’s behind the crackdown?
Although it is unclear what led to the latest crackdown, it is believed that President Xi’s crackdown on religion, the growing popularity of Zion Church, and the recent souring of ties with the US may have played a role.
The crackdown on the Zion Church comes a month after China imposed a new rule banning unauthorised online preaching or religious training by clergy.
Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping also vowed to “implement strict law enforcement” and to advance the Sinicisation of religion in China, according to Reuters.
Jin’s daughter, Grace Jin, said she isn’t certain what prompted the recent crackdown, but added that it may be due to the church’s growing influence.
The country has over 44 million Christians registered with state-sanctioned churches, a majority of which are Protestants. However, there are millions of Christians, considered part of illegal “house churches” and operating outside the control of the Chinese Communist Party.
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Zion Church, with about 5,000 regular worshippers across nearly 50 cities, is among the largest ‘underground’ or house churches that are unregistered with the Chinese authorities. The church also saw a rapid growth in its members during the COVID-19 pandemic through Zoom sermons and small in-person gatherings.
What to know about the 2018 crackdown?
In the 2018 crackdown, the Chinese police had banned the Zion church, shutting down its church building in Beijing. The government also imposed travel restrictions on Zion Church founder Pastor Jin Mingri, so that he could not visit his wife and three children in the US.
The crackdown on the church is believed to have risen under President Xi Jinping, whose government has tightened restrictions on religions, cracked down on independent Christian congregations, destroying crosses, burning Bibles and ordering followers to sign papers renouncing their faith.
What did the US State Department say?
The US State Department criticised the Chinese move, saying the “crackdown demonstrates how the CCP exercises hostility towards Christians.”
“The United States condemns the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s recent detention of dozens of leaders of the unregistered house Zion Church in China, including prominent pastor Mingri “Ezra” Jin,” a US government statement said.
“This crackdown further demonstrates how the CCP exercises hostility towards Christians who reject Party interference in their faith and choose to worship at unregistered house churches,” it added.
The US government urged Beijing to release the detained church leaders and to allow the people to practice their religious activities without fear of retribution.
US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former Vice President Mike Pence, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have condemned the repression of independent churches.
