{"id":54304,"date":"2025-05-27T14:16:27","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T05:16:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=54304"},"modified":"2025-05-27T14:25:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T05:25:27","slug":"vomk-report-350","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2025\/05\/27\/vomk-report-350\/","title":{"rendered":"CHINA: HOUSE CHURCH PASTORS NOW LEGALLY CLASSIFIED AS \u201cIMPERSONATORS\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”54298″ img_size=”full” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”House church pastors in China are accustomed to police harassment and even legal prosecution. But a new program in Song County, Henan Province designed to promote reporting of illegal religious activities by citizens now classifies house church pastors as \u201cimpersonators\u201d. According to Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley, the move is part of an- effort by Chinese officials to get citizens\u2019 help to shut down even religious decorations in private homes by portraying house church leaders as frauds intent on deceiving and harming unsuspecting citizens. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left|color:%23111111″ google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” css=”” el_class=”headline”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

\u201cPreviously, Chinese authorities classified activity by pastors and churches not registered with the government as \u2018illegal<\/span>\u2019,<\/span> but now <\/span>they\u2019re<\/span> using legal terms like \u2018fraud\u2019 and \u2018impersonation\u2019,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>.\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cBut legally, an activity is \u2018fraudulent\u2019 if it intentionally uses deceit or false statements to try to take away someone\u2019s <\/span>money or rights<\/span> or possessions. Likewise, <\/span>legally, \u2018<\/span>impersonation\u2019 means pretending to be someone else <\/span>in order to<\/span> deceive others or gain an advantage. <\/span>Clearly that\u2019s not what house churches are doing. They are choosing not to register with the government because of their religious convictions. They are not trying to deceive people into thinking that they are part of the government-run churches.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Song County<\/span> in China<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s <\/span>Henan Province, recently issued a <\/span>\u201c<\/span>Notice on the Reward <\/span>f<\/span>or Reporting Illegal Religious Activities,<\/span>\u201d<\/span> explicitly targeting house <\/span>leaders and Christians <\/span>by <\/span>rewarding <\/span>the public <\/span>for <\/span>report<\/span>ing<\/span> any Christian activity not approved by the government<\/span>, even when the activity takes place in private homes or <\/span>personal conversations <\/span>online<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]According to the notice published by Song County\u2019s official media outlet, \u201cSong County Integrated Media,\u201d <\/span>illegal activities include<\/span> \u201cholding religious activities outside <\/span>[government] <\/span>registered religious venues, such as setting up private gathering spots or organizing house churches.\u201d <\/span>Any unapproved Christian decorations, such as <\/span>wall hangings with scriptures written on them<\/span>, <\/span>even in <\/span>private homes, are also banned and <\/span>should be reported to the government, according to the notice.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”54301″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The notice also lists \u201cposing as religious clergy\u201d as a<\/span>n illegal activity which should be reported by citizens<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]According to Representative Foley, <\/span>it\u2019s<\/span> not the first time that religious leaders have been classified as \u201cfrauds\u201d and \u201cimposters\u201d for refusing to register with the government.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2023, a Catholic bishop, Father Yang Xiaoming from the Wenzhou Diocese in Zhejiang, China, was convicted of <\/span>\u2018<\/span>fraud<\/span>\u2019<\/span> and <\/span>\u2018<\/span>impersonating religious personnel<\/span>\u2019<\/span>, even though he had been properly ordained by the Catholic Church<\/span> and was serving with their approval<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cBut because he refused to join the government-run \u2018Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association<\/span>\u2019,<\/span> authorities ordered him to pay a fine and stop serving as a priest.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]The new program in Song County also cracks down on <\/span>Christian content on social media<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”54303″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Song County, Henan Province, recently issued an \u201cNotice on the reward for reporting illegal religious activities.\u201d” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0101|line_height:1.45em” css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]\u201c<\/span>The notice <\/span>from <\/span>officials says that citizens should report any religious content they see on <\/span>WeChat or Douyin (Chinese TikTok)<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

Other <\/span>illegal <\/span>actions include \u201cforcing or indirectly forcing others to believe in religion\u201d and \u201cproselytizing on the streets.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Christianity in Henan has experienced rapid growth, with the number of Christians ranking among the highest in the country. <\/span>In addition to <\/span>the <\/span>government-run <\/span>\u201cThree-Self\u201d churches, <\/span>a <\/span>large <\/span>number of<\/span> house churches <\/span>operate<\/span> in homes or private locations. In recent years, the Chinese government has increasingly tightened its religious regulations, including Henan churches<\/span>. According to Representative Foley, the new <\/span>\u201creward for reporting\u201d <\/span>program <\/span>marks yet another harsh measure of control.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

\u201cAt a time when the Chinese government is forcing its \u2018Three-Self\u2019 churches to <\/span>actively <\/span>promot<\/span>e<\/span> communism, <\/span>it\u2019s<\/span> sad to see the<\/span> real Christians branded as frauds and imposters,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cBut the <\/span>Lord Jesus himself was accused of blasphemy, so we should rejoice when others accuse us falsely for our faithful witness. Jesus says we will have a great reward if we endure.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Individuals interested in learning about or supporting Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u2019s work in partnership with house church Christians in China can visit <\/span>www.vomkorea.com\/en\/china<\/span><\/a> 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=”54298″ img_size=”full” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”House church pastors in China are accustomed to police harassment and even legal prosecution. But a new program in Song County, Henan Province designed to promote …","protected":false},"author":659,"featured_media":54297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[235,869,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","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":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54304","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=54304"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54307,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54304\/revisions\/54307"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}