{"id":55705,"date":"2025-09-30T14:09:26","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T05:09:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=55705"},"modified":"2025-09-30T14:57:42","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T05:57:42","slug":"vomk-report-367","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2025\/09\/30\/vomk-report-367\/","title":{"rendered":"CHINA BANS PASTORS FROM UNLICENSED PREACHING, TEACHING, EVANGELIZING ONLINE"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”55704″ img_size=”full” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”The Chinese government announced stricter regulations this month on the online activities of religious figures. According to Voice of the Martyrs Korea and its US-based partner China Aid, the \u201cOnline Conduct Guidelines for Religious Clergy\u201d issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs prohibits pastors and other religious figures from online preaching, teaching, praying, fundraising, or product sales, except on Internet sites officially licensed by the government.” 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

\u201cThe<\/span> government <\/span>was concerned that <\/span>religious figures m<\/span>ight be able to use social media and other online platforms to get around the government\u2019s management of religious organizations,\u201d says Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative <\/span>Dr. Hyun Sook <\/span>Foley. \u201cThe new regulations move online religious content completely off mainstream Internet sites and <\/span>only <\/span>onto government-licensed religious platforms, where user registration is <\/span>required<\/span> and the government can carefully <\/span>monitor<\/span> the content<\/span>. The effect is that all religious talk is moved further <\/span>away from where the <\/span>general public<\/span> can hear it.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”55701″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Earlier this month, China released its \u201cOnline Conduct Guidelines for Religious Clergy\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=””]Representative Foley notes that the new regulations also apply to the online activities of foreign nationals in China, as well as religious personnel from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. She notes that in addition to restricting or banning most online religious activities, the regulations require that all permitted online religious activities must demonstrate support for China\u2019s Communist Party and the government\u2019s policy of \u201cSinicization\u201d of religion.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span>Article 2 of the new regulations says, \u2018Religious clergy who engage in online behavior shall love the motherland, support the leadership of the Communist Party of China\u2019, and \u2018accept government supervision and social supervision\u2019. Article 3 says that online religious content must \u2018adhere to the direction of Sinicization of religion in our country\u2019 and \u2018actively guide religion to adapt to socialist society\u2019,\u201d says Representative Foley, quoting the <\/span>\u201cOnline Conduct Guidelines for Religious Clergy\u201d<\/span>. She notes that the articles also explicitly ban \u201ccolluding with foreign forces\u201d on religious content, \u201cdisseminating religious ideas to minors\u201d, and \u201cundermining the harmonious coexistence between different religions\u201d.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cThese bans are worded in the broadest possible way. They cover every possible aspect of religious activity online. And they apply to the broadest possible group,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cIt\u2019s a new and higher level of control over religion by the Communist authorities. It\u2019s no longer sufficient for churches to register with the government. These new regulations make it so that even the official government registered \u2018Three-Self\u2019 churches can only share religious content online if they apply for and receive what is called an \u2018<\/span>Internet Religious Information Service License\u2019. Even if they receive that license, they still can only share government-approved content on government-approved websites.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”55697″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”A Voice of the Martyrs Korea volunteer records one of the ministry\u2019s two daily radio broadcasts to China.” 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=””]Representative Foley says that increased Communist Party control over the Chinese Internet is one reason her organization continues to move toward low-tech solutions in its partnership with Chinese Christians.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWe do a twice-daily shortwave radio broadcast into China with the sermons of Chinese Christians who have been persecuted or martyred for their faith,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cWe might think, \u2018Do people even own shortwave radios these days?\u2019 But shortwave radio remains very popular in China, because unlike online activity, listening to shortwave radio leaves no \u2018trace\u2019 that can be followed by the government. The government\u2019s only defense against shortwave radio is to air as many of its own shortwave broadcasts as it can while trying to jam our broadcasts. But that\u2019s a very expensive and still ineffective solution.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/span>But Representative Foley says that shortwave radio is only one of many strategies Chinese Christians are using as high-tech surveillance of Christians increases in China. She says that older Chinese Christians and Christians living in the countryside have once again become important to the Chinese church. \u201cThe younger generation of Christians has a difficult time thinking about how to carry on their Christian lives without the use of cell phones or WeChat or the Internet or gathering together in church buildings. This makes it very easy for the authorities to track them and shut them down,\u201d she says. But older Chinese Christians and Christians living in the countryside were trained in \u2018low-tech\u2019 ways of living the Christian life. They survived for decades under Communism using such strategies, and they are once again teaching these ways to the Chinese church.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Individuals interested in learning about or supporting Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u2019s work in partnership with persecuted 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=”55704″ img_size=”full” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”The Chinese government announced stricter regulations this month on the online activities of religious figures. According to Voice of the Martyrs Korea and its US-based partner …","protected":false},"author":659,"featured_media":55703,"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-55705","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\/55705","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=55705"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55826,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55705\/revisions\/55826"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}