China ‘Liquidates’ House Church as Part of Crackdown

Pastors and other workers arrested.

(Morning Star News) – Authorities in China on Aug. 19 officially “liquidated” an historical house church in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, as part of a crackdown on churches that refuse to join the state-controlled Three-Self Church, rights advocates said. The Church of Abundance, which began about 30 years ago, had been targeted as a “cult” that […]

Online Crackdown Threatens Christians in China

Draconian measures contravene constitution, attorney says.

(Morning Star News) – Unregistered house churches that have relied on online gatherings and teaching to survive the COVID-19 pandemic and persecution will have that option taken away under draconian measures taking effect on March 1, sources said. Churches, seminaries and other ministries have been shaken by the government announcement on Dec. 20 that all […]

Christians in China Forced to Replace Christian Items with Portraits of President

84-year-old man is told to pray to Communist Party leader.

(Morning Star News) – An 84-year-old Christian in Shanxi Province, China was among people in at least five provinces ordered to remove Christian imagery from their homes and replace them with pictures of President Xi Jinping, religious rights magazine Bitter Winter reported. “The township [Chinese Communist] Party [CCP] secretary asked me to take down and […]

Harsh Sentence for Pastor Wang Signals Severe Crackdown in China, Sources Say

Early Rain Covenant Church leader given nine years in prison.

(Morning Star News) – The sentencing of pastor Wang Yi to nine years in prison this week for “subversion” and “illegal business activities” shows how authorities in China are increasingly intolerant of unregistered churches, sources said. Pastor Wang of Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, capital of southwestern China’s Sichuan Province, was sentenced in closed-door […]

Crackdown on Christianity in China Ramps Up

Persecution rising toward levels under Chairman Mao, sources say.

(Morning Star News) – As more government officials in China are empowered to close churches and a “social credit” system threatens to block Christians from schools, bank loans and jobs, authorities have taken harsh measures against more churches, sources said. Early Rain Covenant Church elder Qin Defu was sentenced to four years in prison on […]

China Adds Charge against Pastor, Coerces Christians to Accuse Him Falsely, Sources Say

Church leader in another province takes his life in protest of crack-down.

(Morning Star News) – Authorities in China have added “illegal business activities” to the subversion charge against pastor Wang Yi and have coerced congregation members to falsely accuse him, according to advocacy and media reports. Pastor Wang, of Early Rain Covenant Church (ERCC) in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, was detained in a Dec. 9 raid along […]

China Cracks Down on Unofficial Church, Arresting Pastor and 100 Members

Leader of prominent congregation charged with 'subversion.'

(Morning Star News) – Authorities in China have detained the pastor and more than 100 members of a prominent, unofficial church since Sunday (Dec. 9), according to media and advocacy agencies. Security authorities raided the 800-member Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, Sichuan Province at about 6 p.m. on Sunday (Dec. 9) and also took […]

Rebel Force Attacks Churches in Burma

Extremist militants aim to restrict missionary activity, sources say.

YANGON, Burma (Morning Star News) – Ethnic Wa rebels this month shut down churches or destroyed their buildings and temporarily detained several clergymen in eastern Burma (Myanmar), sources said. On the border with China, soldiers of Myanmar’s largest ethnic rebel group, the United Wa State Army (UWSA), attacked the churches in the rebel’s autonomous region in […]

Closure of Large Church in Beijing Deepens Shadow on Religious Freedom in China

Crack-down escalates significantly, advocate says.

(Morning Star News) – The growing crack-down on unofficial churches in China deepened on Sunday (Sept. 9) when authorities closed one of the largest churches in Beijing, according to reports. The Beijing Chaoyang District Civil Affairs Bureau informed Zion Church that it was “legally banned” for organizing events without registering as an official Three-Self Patriotic […]

Authorities in China Detain Pastor, Daughter and 3-year-old Grandson

In neighboring province, government-hired thug threatens to kill family.

(Morning Star News) – While a government-hired thug in China threatened to kill a Christian family, officials in a neighboring province arrested a pastor, her daughter and her 3-year-old grandson, sources said. In Xinning, Hubei Province in the central part of the country, police and religious affairs officials upset by a house church’s outreach arrested […]