A Chinese officialaccused “anti-China forces” in the West of using Christianity to subvert thecountry’s political power and said worshippers must follow a Chinese form ofreligion.
China’s officiallyatheist government, which oversees religious groups through state-sponsoredinstitutions, has tightened its grip on all faiths in recent years.
“Anti-China forcesin the West are attempting to continue to influence the social stability of ourcountry through Christianity, and even subvert the political power of ourcountry,” Xu Xiaohong, chairman of the state-backed National Three-SelfPatriotic Movement Committee, which oversees the Protestant churches, said onMonday.
Speaking at theannual gathering of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference(CPPCC), a largely ceremonial advisory body, Xu described the introduction ofChristianity in China as “?accompanying the intense colonial aggression by theWest”.
Only byincorporating Chinese culture into Christianity would the religion becomesomething Chinese people could identify with, said Xu.
For those who”subvert national security in the name of Christianity, we support thecountry in bringing them to justice,” he added.
His remarks comedays after the US envoy for religious freedom, Sam Brownback, said the Chinesegovernment was “at war with faith”, persecuting Muslim Uighurs, TibetanBuddhists, Christians and Falungong practitioners.
In China,Protestants are split between unofficial and state-sanctioned churches, whereCommunist Party songs also feature in the order of service.
Over the past year,unofficial “house” or “underground” churches have facedincreasing pressure, with some church members detained under subversioncharges.
In December, thepastor of the Early Rain Covenant Church, a prominent unofficial Protestantcongregation in southwest Sichuan province, was detained in a police raid undercharges of “inciting subversion of state power,” according to thechurch.
In September,Beijing officials also shut down Zion Church, one of China’s largest unofficialProtestant churches, for operating without a licence in the capital – beforeordering it to pay back 1.2 million yuan (USD 170,000) in rent and removalcosts.
Catholics – who aresimilarly split between official and underground churches – Muslims andBuddhists have also faced increasing pressure to toe the party line.