(Morning Star News) – China has tightened its “choke-hold” on churches across the country in recent weeks, according to advocacy group China Aid. Recent bans on unregistered church worship and on teaching Christianity to children, “as if intending to eliminate all house churches at once,” have startled Christians, a China Aid source reported. In Guangzhou, […]
China Tightens Control on Churches, Enforces Law Against Teaching Children
Officials order house-church members to stay home.
September 15, 2017 By - 1 Comment
Pakistan’s Calculated Spin on Apparent Killing of Chinese Evangelists
Interior ministry’s statement sends chilling message to foreign Christians.
July 11, 2017 By - Leave a Comment
(Morning Star News) – Islamabad’s claim that “violations” of business visas contributed to the murder of two Chinese evangelists last month served key government purposes. Lee Zing Yang (Li Xinheng is said to be the more accurate rendering), 24, and Meng Li Si (Meng Lisi), 26, were teaching Chinese to people in Pakistan, and, like […]
Indonesia Joins Repressive Islamic Regimes in Sentencing Ahok to Prison for ‘Blasphemy’
Statute treads on human rights in world’s largest Islamic country.
May 9, 2017 By - Leave a Comment
(Morning Star News) – Indonesia took a huge leap backwards in its reputation as a moderate Islamic democracy today when a court sentenced the Christian governor of Jakarta, Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, to two years in prison for “blasphemin The blasphemy accusation was key in Ahok’s defeat in a bid to be re-elected as governor […]
Quashing of Childcare Facility Application in Algeria Rooted in Religious Discrimination
Reason for denial cloaked in secrecy.
April 14, 2017 By - Leave a Comment
TIZI-OUZOU, Algeria (Morning Star News) – The social services agency of Tizi-Ouzou Province, Algeria, has denied a permit to a childcare facility without explanation, but almost certainly because of the owner’s Christian faith, sources said. The owner met all the conditions required by law for opening an early childhood care facility in the city of Tizi-Ouzou […]
China’s New Policy Expected to Lead to More Religious Persecution
‘Sinicization’ a catalyst for attacking faith communities.
March 13, 2017 By - Leave a Comment
March 13, 2017 (Morning Star News) – China Aid’s 2016 Annual Persecution Report details a seismic shift in the Chinese government’s approach to religious policy that is expected to lead to further persecution. The report’s core subject tracks a deviation in the Chinese government’s ideological approach to religious management. During the National Conference of Religious […]
Indonesia Faces Defining Moment in ‘Blasphemy’ Protests against Christian Governor Ahok
Islamic-majority ‘model democracy’ challenged by religious-based political furor.
December 1, 2016 By - Leave a Comment
(Morning Star News) – Having concluded their investigations, Indonesian police have now named Jakarta’s ethnic Chinese Christian Gov. Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama a suspect in a blasphemy case. The case that has produced virulent protests will now to go trial. Islamic fundamentalists are now demanding he be arrested and incarcerated, as is normally the case with […]
Dangerous Area in Kaduna, Nigeria a Virtual Ghost Town; 13 More Deaths Discovered
Shocked survivors of attacks say they had no conflicts with herdsmen.
October 26, 2016 By - Leave a Comment
DOGON FILI, Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Several people advised me that it was not safe to go to Godogodo in southern Kaduna state, but it was imperative to verify reports of violence against Christians in Nigeria, as authorities and mainstream media downplay persecution as “sectarian violence.” I was advised that if I must go, I […]
Persecution of Church in China to Escalate as Zhejiang Experiment Goes National
Draft regulations on religion portend broader clamp-down.
October 14, 2016 By - 1 Comment
(Morning Star News) – In October 2012, the South China Morning Post ran a series of articles on China’s looming leadership transition. One line might prove prophetic, although not in the way intended: “For clues about how China’s leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping might manage the world’s second-largest economy, Zhejiang Province is a good place to start looking.” […]
Night
A new news service to shed light amid vast darkness.
September 27, 2016 By - Leave a Comment
(Morning Star News) As Morning Star News enters its fifth year of publication, and in memory of Elie Wiesel, who died on July 2, the editorial that inaugurated the news service website in 2012 is here republished. At times some Jewish friends, astonished, cannot help asking me how Christians can be so indifferent toward religiously […]
House-Church Leader among Four Pro-Democracy Activists Sentenced in China
Hu Shigen given seven and a half years in prison.
August 8, 2016 By - Leave a Comment
(Morning Star News) – Two Christians were among four activists convicted under fabricated charges of “subverting state power” in China last week. The Tianjin No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court sentenced house-church leader Hu Shigen, 61, on Wednesday (Aug. 3) to seven and a half years in prison on charges of “subverting state power” for his […]