Hunan officials forbid church from holding services

An official seal on a church
door in China’s Guizhou
province. Officials often
close churches in China
in an effort to suppress them.
(Photo: ChinaAid)

ChinaAid

(Changsha, Hunan—June 1, 2019) Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities recently posted a notice in China’s Hunan province which prohibited a local church, not registered with the government, from holding services.

The notice reminded residents that the CCP only recognizes officially run religious venues as legal. Consequently, as this church was not registered with the CCP, authorities closed it.

According to Chinese regulations, legal churches must submit to censorship and monitoring by the CCP. As government authorities often insert pro-Communist Party propaganda into their services, many churches refuse to register. A Hunan Christian, surnamed Zhang, affirmed that Christians often experience offensive, overwhelming obstacles when they try to register their churches. ChinaAid has documented numerous reported accounts that even after registering, churches undergo persecution.

Technically, under Article 36 of the Chinese Constitution, the CCP government should consider refusals to register churches as legal. This article states, “Citizens of the People’s Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious belief.” Nevertheless, CCP authorities often use the nation’s Regulations on Religious Affairs to restrict how people of faith may legally express their beliefs. Church registration essentially brings religion under the Chinese government’s control.

ChinaAid exposes abuses in order to stand in solidarity with the persecuted and promote religious freedom, human rights, and rule of law. If you wish to partner with us in helping those persecuted by the Chinese government, please click the button below to make a charitable donation.

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Hunan officials forbid church from holding services

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