{"id":47853,"date":"2023-09-05T14:00:28","date_gmt":"2023-09-05T05:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=47853"},"modified":"2023-09-05T13:46:13","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T04:46:13","slug":"vomk-report-269","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2023\/09\/05\/vomk-report-269\/","title":{"rendered":"CHINA: NEW RELIGIOUS REGULATIONS REQUIRE CHURCHES TO ACTIVELY PROMOTE COMMUNISM"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”47846″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”New religious regulations take effect in China this month that require that churches not only refrain from criticizing communism but that they actively promote it. That\u2019s the word from persecution ministry Voice of the Martyrs Korea, which says that the September 1 \u201cMeasures on the Administration of Religious Activity Venues\u201d require churches to be \u201ccommunist first and Christian second\u201d.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” el_class=”headline”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cJesus said, \u2018Whoever is not for us is against us,\u2019 and that is certainly the approach taken here by the China Communist Party,\u201d says Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr<\/span>.<\/span> Hyun Sook Foley. <\/span>\u201cThese new requirements from the <\/span>State Administration for Religious Affairs of China<\/span> say that for churches to continue to be permitted to operate, their first goal\u2014even more important than the promotion of their own religious beliefs\u2014must be the promotion of communism.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Representative Foley points to Article 30 of the new regulations, which says:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe management organization of a place of religious activity shall perform the following duties:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 (a) To unite and educate religious citizens to love the motherland, support the leadership of the Communist Party of China, practice socialist core values, adhere to the direction of the Sinicization of our country’s religions, and abide by the Constitution, laws, regulations, rules and regulations and the relevant provisions of the management of religious affairs;<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 (b) To implement the rules and regulations formulated by the religious groups of this religion;<\/span><\/p>\n

(c) To establish and improve the management system for personnel, finance, assets, accounting, archives, security, fire protection, cultural relics protection, food safety and hygiene and epidemic prevention of the place and organize the implementation of such systems.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cAs of September 1, it\u2019s no longer sufficient for Chinese churches to refrain from criticizing Communism; now they have to be Communism\u2019s biggest cheerleaders,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201c<\/span>Article 27 s<\/span>ays that church leaders must <\/span>\u2018<\/span>lov<\/span>e <\/span>the motherland and support the leadership of the Communist Party<\/span>\u2019. Article 39 says, \u2018The content of preaching and sermons should be suitable for our country\u2019s national conditions and characteristics of the times, integrate excellent traditional Chinese culture, and reflect the core socialist values.\u2019 Pastors who <\/span>don\u2019t<\/span> do this can be banned from preaching.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]According to Representative Foley, <\/span>\u201cGovernment-sanctioned churches are now praising and supporting <\/span>c<\/span>ommunism in a way that goes further than some China state-run media.\u201d She says the trend began in late 2022, <\/span>when Three-Self churches hosted various activities for the 20th National Congress<\/span> of the Chinese Communist Party<\/span>. \u202f\u00a0 <\/span>\u202f\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cRecently, <\/span>Sicheng<\/span> Church, a government-registered church in Hangzhou, organized a special session on implementing the spirit of the National Congress<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>On the church\u2019s website, its pastor, Huang <\/span>Mingke<\/span>, emphasized the church\u2019s support for the Chinese government\u2019s program of <\/span>Sinicization.<\/span> These new September 1 regulations will <\/span>likely make<\/span> public shows of support for Communism by churches even more common.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”47848″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”On July 3, a hammer and sickle, the emblem of the Chinese Communist Party, was placed next to Shinian Christian Church in Zhejiang Province.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230f0f0f|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In other cases, churches have been compelled to make public shows of support for communism by local officials. Representative Foley says that o<\/span>n July 3, a hammer and sickle, the emblem of the Chinese Communist Party, was placed next to<\/span> the sign of the<\/span> Shinian<\/span> Christian Church<\/span> in <\/span>Zhejiang <\/span>P<\/span>rovince<\/span>. \u201c<\/span>A pastor in Zhejiang province reported that the Religious Affairs Bureau sent out notices to surrounding churches<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>They <\/span>requested<\/span> that <\/span>all religious venues must put up large signs at their entrances that <\/span>say,<\/span> \u2018love the Chinese communist party, love the country, and love the religion\u2019 and \u2018uphold the principle of developing religions in the Chinese context.\u2019<\/span> We can expect the new September regulations to make this kind of pressure more common.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Representative Foley says that while the new regulations govern registered churches, the impact on unregistered churches will be significant. \u201cThe regulations further make clear that unregistered churches are not only unacceptable but also criminal,\u201d says Representative Foley. She notes Article 29 of the regulations, which she <\/span>says <\/span>specifically target<\/span>s<\/span> unregistered groups. \u201cArticle 29 <\/span>says \u2018<\/span>places of worship shall be promptly removed<\/span>\u2019 if they are considered to undermine national unity, promote extremism, violate public order, partner with groups outside the country, accept donations in violation of state regulations, hold unauthorized religious activities, etcetera\u2014these are the specific types of charges that authorities have used increasingly across China to shut down unregistered churches.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]She <\/span>points to <\/span>the August 20 raid on <\/span>New Hope <\/span>Church <\/span>in Meizhou, Guangdong province<\/span> during its Sunday worship service <\/span>and the <\/span>August 11 <\/span>fraud charges against three <\/span>leaders of <\/span>Sichuan<\/span>\u2019s <\/span>Zili Church<\/span> for <\/span>permitting<\/span> their church to receive tithes and offerings <\/span>as <\/span>recent examples of this kind of enforcement.<\/span> \u201cThe new regulations give <\/span>provincial level officials <\/span>even more legal tools to crack down on unregistered churches,\u201d she says.<\/span> \u201cBut the main charge against unregistered churches<\/span> by Chinese authorities<\/span> is <\/span>more and more likely to be<\/span>: If you are a Chinese church and you are not promoting communism, you will be <\/span>shut down.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Still, Representative Foley says she believes the unregistered churches will remain true to their calling to glorify God alone. \u201c<\/span>In the last few <\/span>years,<\/span> we\u2019ve seen congregations like Early Rain Church in Chengdu and Zion Church in Beijing withstand every attack by the authorities, from house arrests to building confiscation to beatings to jail time, and yet those congregations are still standing firm,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cThey are still standing not because the authorities have been <\/span>tame<\/span> in their attacks <\/span>but because the Lord Jesus is able to make them stand<\/span> in the face of even the worst adversity<\/span>. He shows continual care to all those who stand on his name alone, and h<\/span>is church will continue to advance <\/span>in China.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Individuals interested in learning about or supporting Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u2019s work in partnership with the house church Christians of China can visit <\/span>www.vomkorea.com\/en\/china<\/a><\/span> or give via electronic transfer to:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

KB Bank: 463501-01-243303<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Account Holder: (<\/span>\uc0ac<\/span>)<\/span>\uc21c\uad50\uc790\uc758\uc18c\ub9ac<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Please note \u201cChina\u201d on the transfer.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”47846″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”New religious regulations take effect in China this month that require that churches not only refrain from criticizing communism but that they actively promote it. That\u2019s the …","protected":false},"author":659,"featured_media":47844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[857,235,869,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-russian-special","category-special-column","category-china-special","category-vomk-report"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en","zh","ru"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"zh":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/659"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47853"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47859,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47853\/revisions\/47859"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}