China records more local COVID cases this year than in whole of 2021
Beijing, ChinaReuters China has reported more local symptomatic COVID-19 cases so far this year than it recorded in all of 2021, as the highly transmissible Omicron variant triggers outbreaks from Shanghai to Shenzhen. Mainland China reported 1,337 new domestically transmitted COVID cases with confirmed symptoms on 13th March, the National Health Commission said on Monday. […]
BOOKS: EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY AND THE “JERUSALEM OF CHINA”
DAVID ADAMS reads the latest in Paul Hattaway’s series on the history of Christianity in China…
China’s ‘underground’ churches told to seek ‘guidance’ from state-approved bodies
World Watch Monitor A newly implemented directive from the Chinese Government forces Protestant ‘house churches’ and Catholic ‘underground’ communities to seek “guidance” from recognised religious organisations. A notification from the State Administration for Religious Affairs, issued earlier this month, requires organisers of religious activities at temporary sites to also apply for a permit that is […]
Chinese clampdown reaches Christians in Henan
World Watch Monitor Local authorities in China’s east-central Henan Province have removed a number of crosses from churches closed a church-run kindergarten and asked Christian residents in one city to register. The “two or three” crosses that have been forcibly removed from churches were located in Yichuan county, and were taken down because they were […]
China’s Communist Party increases control over religious affairs
World Watch Monitor China’s Communist Party has disbanded its Religious Affairs Bureau to bring religion under the control of the party’s Central Committee, in what some observers see as a further tightening of the belt. The State Administration of Religious Affairs (SARA) is to be absorbed by the United Front Work Department, an organ of […]
CSW urges G20 leaders to raise religious freedom and human rights issues at China summit
A UK-based religious freedom advocacy has said it remains “deeply concerned” about violations of religious freedoms and other human rights in China and has urged G20 leaders to “use every opportunity” to raise concerns during a summit in China next week. Christian Solidarity Worldwide said Zhejiang province, where the summit will be held, has made […]