Leaked Chinese Document Orders 'Terminating Illegal Christian Activities'

Ted Olsen

EU draft constitution doesn’t mention God despite members’ lobbying, and other stories from online sources around the world.

Chinese government: “Terminate illegal Christian activities” Human rights organization Voice of the Martyrs has posted what it says is a top secret document from the Chinese government—”the first one of its kind ever seen by the public”—ordering “an ongoing, systematic campaign to expose and destroy unregistered Protestant churches in Hebei Province.”

“This directive is a smoking gun,” Voice of the Martyrs spokesman Gary Lane says in a press release. “It proves the Public Security Bureau is working on the provincial level to destroy unregistered churches and severely punish their leaders.”

“To embrace the victorious opening of the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and create a sound and secure social environment, in light of the demand of the meeting on Christian issues in our city, a concerted citywide action will be taken, under the unified leadership of Party Committee and Government of our city, against illegal Christian activities from August 20 to October 20,” the August 20, 2002, memo (English translation) from the Public Security Bureau says.

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Know clearly all illegal Christian activities, and bring their organizers and freelance missionaries to justice; ban all illegal Christian meeting places; make sure that the spread of illegal Christian activities in our city is effectively contained. Establish a secret force which has wide coverage, and can acquire deep-depth intelligence and information; make sure reliable information needed in discovering, fighting illegal Christian activities is available. Ban, according to the law, various cultic organizations operated in the name of Christianity. Make religious work a daily work of all grassroots police stations, set up detailed plan, and make sure religious activities develop normally and according to the law.

The memo also tells officers to differentiate between “normal Christian activities” and illegal ones. “Cracking down should be confined to a small group of people,” the memo says. “For majority of people, education serves as the main ways to stop them from engaging in illegal activities.”

“This is not just some rogue police department doing its own thing,” Lane says in a reaction statement available only in audio and video formats at the Voice of the Martyrs site. “It’s a well thought out, planned strategy on the part of the government, a campaign, a systematic effort to eradicate, infiltrate, and then eliminate evangelical churches that are unregistered in China, in this case, at the provincial level, Hebei Province.”

In related news, The Orange County Register today tells the story of local resident Timothy Ho, who is working to free his nephew, “Philip” Xu Guoxing. Xu was arrested in Shanghai December 8 for unlicensed preaching and sentenced to 18 months in a labor camp.

European Union constitution won’t mention God Despite the efforts of Poland, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, and other nations, the European Union’s future constitution won’t mention God, according to the first 15 draft articles released by the EU’s “praesidium” (steering committee) yesterday. Many member states wanted the constitution to credit “God as the source of truth, justice, good and beauty.”

“There were a lot of objections to a reference to God,” an unnamed British diplomat told The Independent of London. “If you have to keep Christians, Muslims, agnostics and atheists happy, it is all a little difficult.”

Several news agencies note, however, that the battle to include God is likely to be reignited when the constitution’s preamble is written.

National Prayer Breakfast:

Bush lauds Americans’ steadfastness in crisis | The CIA director’s appearance at an event normally reserved for members of Congress, foreign guests and various evangelical Christians from around the country was precedent-setting, according to one evangelical leader (The Washington Times)
Bush urges prayer during ‘testing time’ | Each opening with a prayer, American leaders at the National Prayer Breakfast spoke to feelings of uncertainty and anxiety in America just five days after the Columbia tragedy and one day after Secretary of State Colin Powell laid out the U.S. case against Saddam Hussein. (Associated Press)

Gate-crasher hands Bush ‘message from God’ | The Rev. Richard “Rich” Weaver, nicknamed “Handshake Man” because of his knack for getting up close and personal with the high and mighty, struck again yesterday morning (The Washington Post)

War with Iraq:

U.S. envoy suggests Iraq crisis requires new interpretation of ‘just war’ | “The question is whether the threat is so great that it morally justifies taking preemptive action to interrupt it before you become a victim of it,” says U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican James Nicholson (Religion News Service)
A war unjustly labeled , Part 2 | The impression that the leaders of the religious left are gaining the upper hand may be misleading (Uwe Siemon-Netto, UPI)
Earlier: A war unjustly labeled, Part 1 (UPI)
Peace activists frustrated by Bush over Iraq | Among white evangelical Christians, Bush has 70 percent support, says Zogby survey (Reuters)
Bush’s messiah complex | While there’s nothing wrong with a President trying to make the world a better place, when the man in the Oval Office feels divinely inspired to reshape the world through violent means, that’s a scary prospect (The Progressive)
Jesus a pacifist? | Fleischer on anti-war comments by bishop of Bush’s denomination (WorldNetDaily.com)
Presidents often at odds with their clergy | It’s hard to find a 20th century president who didn’t butt heads with some in his faith (Associated Press)
U.N. agency helps Iraq protect cultural treasures | UNESCO is confident that U.S., Britain won’t target historical sites (Reuters)

Persecution and violence:

Sheikh charged and convicted of ‘fomenting sectarianism’ | Military court links motives for December murder in army barracks to Islamic fundamentalism (Daily Star, Lebanon)
Jerusalem’s Anglican bishop threatens to sue Israelis over church bombing | Religious leader says church was ‘targeted’ by military (Ecumenical News International)
Briton held over death of priest in Vietnam | Officials said Doan Christopher Thanh, 27, a British passport holder of Vietnamese origin, was assisting police with inquiries but had not been charged with any offence (The Independent, London)
Israel nabs lone Christian Palestinian militant | Israeli forces arrested on Thursday the sole Christian member of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a Muslim group spearheading a Palestinian uprising, Palestinian sources and the Israeli army said (Reuters)
Tension mounts on Athos as extremist monks defy eviction | The battle to remove rebel monks from a monastery on Mount Athos spilled outside the all-male republic yesterday when thousands of Orthodox faithful took to the streets to protest at an unprecedented land-and-sea blockade of the sanctuary (The Observer, London)
Judge puts brakes on sectarian trial |Coptic church expresses surprise at continued delay of murder case, but human rights organizations say there is no foul play (Middle East Times)

Church and state:

Push made to bar outsiders from giving Senate prayer | Some lawmakers are offended by what they call continuing inappropriate references to Jesus Christ (The Baltimore Sun)
Also: Senator to request prayers not be led by clergy | Prayers mentioned ‘Jesus’ at least four times (WBAL, Baltimore)
Legislators endorse posting of ‘In God We Trust’ | Civil libertarians oppose legislation (The Denver Post)
Panel okays God motto | Lawmakers back public plaques with ‘In God We Trust’ (The Denver Rocky Mountain News)
‘Patriotic’ teen fights state patriotism law | ACLU says law favors religious schools (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Also: Suit opposes mandated Pledge of Allegiance (The Legal Intelligencer, Penn.)
Also: Law requiring school Pledge on hold for now (Associated Press)
Placentia school’s bible-club ban fought | A legal group that two years ago forced a south Orange County school district to reverse its ban on Christian clubs now is challenging a similar policy at a Placentia high school (Los Angeles Times)
Don’t cross church-state wall | It is disturbing that the administration is willing to pursue a course that easily could put government in the role of financing religion (Editorial, The Hartford [Conn.] Courant)
Theology student sues state | Teresa Becker had scholarship cut when she declared religion major (Associated Press, alt site)

Politics and law:

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Ted Olsen

Leaked Chinese Document Orders 'Terminating Illegal Christian Activities' - Christianity Today (2024)

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