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History of Persecution in China

Chronology of Christianity in China

1807 - Robert Morrison, the first Protestant missionary (London Missionary Society) reaches Canton.

1841 - Henry Venn, Secretary of the Church Missionary Society, advocates the principle of self-responsibility and self-support for mission-planted churches.

1851 - The Venn concept is formulated as the Three Selfs: self-supporting, self-governing, self-propagating.

1860 - Following its loss of the Second Opium War, China signs the Treaty of Tianjin, which also grants foreign missionaries the right to share their faith in China.

1900 - Boxer Rebellion. 189 missionaries and children are martyred.

1919 - Communism emerges.

1922 - Anti-Christian movement breaks out.

1926 - Watchman Nee establishes The Christian Assemblies, also known as The Little Flock.

1930s - The northern China province of Shantung experiences a supernatural visitation of the Spirit of God, characterized by deep repentance and public confession of sin by both believers and new converts, accompanied by signs and wonders in healing, speaking in tongues and casting out demons. People from all denominations are affected.

1949 - The Communist Party gains power. Estimates place about 1 million Protestants and 4.5 million Catholics in China. By 1991, estimates claim 50 million Christians in house churches. Most growth occurs in rural areas where 80 percent of the population lives.

1949-1953 - Foreign missionaries expelled from China.

1950 - Under Mao TseTung and the Marxist/Communist regime, the Christian Manifesto calls on the Church to expose and oppose imperialism, feudalism and bureaucratic capitalism and help promote an independent, democratic and patriotic China. The Three-Self reform movement is established by the state.

1952 - Watchman Nee is arrested and never released.

1954 - The Three Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) is formerly organized by liberal Protestant leaders, headed by Wu Yaozong. The name is a prostitution of the “Three Self” principles espoused a century earlier by Christian missionaries. Where the Bible and patriotism conflict, the party line wins.

1954-1966 - Christians abandon TSPM and establish house churches, a fertile soil out of which explosive growth occurs.

1955 - Wang MingTao, an eminent Beijing Pastor, is arrested, imprisoned, brainwashed and tortured. He is not released until 1978.

1966-1976 - The Cultural Revolution. Red Guards carry out a ruthless campaign to crush religion. All religious activities were banned and church buildings were either closed or destroyed. Hundreds of clergies including TSPM pastors were sent to labor camps for re-education through labor.

1977 - A more moderate set of pragmatic policies is pursued by Deng Xiaoping. Christians are released from prison to demonstrate to the West a policy of religious freedom and attention to human rights issues.

1978-1982 - House churches see great multiplication and initially enjoy relative peace. Christians boldly evangelize, worship and teach in large meetings. In one city, 60 percent of the population embraces Jesus Christ.

1982 - The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee formulate “The Basic Viewpoint and Policy on the Religious Affairs during the Socialist Period of Our Country,” known as “Document No. 19.” This document continues as the basis of the religious policy and itemizes “five characteristics” (wu xing) of religion in socialist China: that it 1) will exist for a long time, 2) has masses of believers 3) is complex, 4) entwines with ethnicity, and 5) affects international relations. The document concludes that: 1) religious affairs should be handled with care, 2) religious believers should be rallied for the central task of economic construction and 3) religious freedom should be guaranteed, as long as the believers love the country, support CCP rule and observe socialist laws. It acknowledges the mistakes of militant atheism, yet clearly reaffirms the atheist doctrine that religion will wither away and that atheist propaganda should be carried out unremittingly.

Mid-1983 - Hundreds of arrests, occasional incidents of torture and other forms of harassment since mid-1983 constitute the first sweeping crackdown against Christian activity since the Communist regime instituted a measure of toleration in 1979. The repression is aimed especially at a zealous Protestant revival occurring among the unsanctioned house churches, which are in increasing conflict with the government-approved Protestant organizations.

1989-1993 - Following the Tian’anmen Square Massacre of June 4, 1989, a great spiritual awakening breaks out among Chinese intellectuals and professionals. Thousands “both in China and overseas” embrace the Christian faith.

1994-PRESENT - Beijing escalates and intensifies efforts to force registration and end all unapproved religious activities (link to Religious Persecution in China Testimonies).

1999 - The Chinese government officially bans Falun Gong and other qigong groups, along with more than a dozen Christian organizations with house church background. They are labeled as “evil cults” that endanger the health of the masses and disturb the stability of the society.

2004 - November. Beijing announces new Religious Affairs Provisions (RAP) to take effect March 1, 2005. Officials claim RAP represents a “paradigm shift” in official thinking about religious affairs. Most analysts see no real change.