The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Sinicization policy:
The National Religious Affairs Administration article points out that the fundamental prerequisite for continued recognition of religions in China requires accepting the Party’s leadership. Meanwhile, according to the CCP, religious communities should take the initiative to explore new paths of Sinicization regarding their values, doctrines, and internal management.
Contrary to the indigenization movement, initiated by Western missionaries free of any government interference before the founding of the PR China in 1949, Sinicizing Christianity provides a legal framework for heightened government control of Christian churches as well as religious affairs in China. It provides justification for expanding the campaigns of removal and demolition of crosses and church buildings across China.
Under the CCP’s Sinicization policy, authorities may deny government assistance to Christians living in some rural areas unless they replace Christian posters with the image of Xi in their homes. The imperative of Sinicization also encourages the government’s plan to produce a state-approved revision of the Bible, as well as forcing clergy in government-sanctioned churches to undergo “patriotic” education. It even undergirds more stringent practices that forbid Christian teachings and gatherings at private homes, and parks. This policy further empowers authorities to harass or jail church leaders and shut down hundreds of house churches in the county.
Revealingly, countless evidence points to the objective of the Sinicization policy—nothing less than making the CCP the lord over the Church, and Jesus subservient to Xi Jinping. The CCP’s tyrannical tactics typically include threats, coercion, or violence.
At this time, while numerous small-sized independent churches in the country may temporarily remain unscathed, urban house churches are bearing the brunt of the pressure the policy imposes. Some local churches may resort to self-policing, avoiding Bible teachings at variance with the Sinicization policy.
ChinaAid Media Team
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