Chinese officials have reportedly ordered some Christians to break the crosses in their churches and remove the images of Jesus from their homes.
Authorities have recently forcibly destroyed religious symbols in churches in various provinces, including Anhui, Jiangsu, Hebei and Zhejiang, according to the US news site Radio Free Asia.
In addition, officials in Shanxi, another region, demanded that the religious images be removed and replaced with photos of communist leaders in the homes of impoverished believers, independent media outlet Bitter Winter said.
Photographs released by the United States-based China Aid purport to show a crane knocking down a cross on top of a church (left) and officials standing in front of a church (right) in Yongjia, China on July 7.
The reports come as China faces unprecedented criticism of its tight control over its religious population, especially Muslim ethnic minorities.
Officials in charge of religious affairs in Huainan, in eastern Anhui province, allegedly broke into the local Shiwan Christ church to dismantle his cross on Saturday and Sunday.
Officials had required the church to knock down his cross a week earlier, Radio Free Asia reported, citing local sources.
When they arrived at the scene to forcefully impose the order over the weekend, they encountered dozens of believers who had gathered to try to prevent them from wiping out the holy sign, according to the article.
Similar scenes were said to have occurred in Yongjia in Zhejiang province on July 7.
The local government sent a crane and nearly 100 workers to demolish the crosses at Ao’di Christ Church and Yinchang Christ Church, according to US-based China Aid lobby group.
Local believers told the group that government workers forced their way into churches, smashed church property and beat Christians, including a woman in her 80s, who tried to stop them.
In this photo taken on June 2, 2018, a worker jumps out of a truck parked in front of a church and the Chinese national flag near the town of Pingdingshan in central China’s Henan province.
China Aid, founded by American-Chinese pastor Bob Fu, also posted images purporting to show a heavy machine lifting a cross from one church and government workers in front of another.
Elsewhere in China, a local government in Linfen in Shanxi province summoned all village officials and ordered them to crack down on religious activity, Bitter Winter reported.
Village officials were instructed to remove crosses, religious symbols, and pictures from the homes of some people of faith, the magazine focused on religious freedom and human rights in China wrote.
The government was said to be targeting poverty-stricken residents who received social assistance payments, and those families should display portraits of Chairman Mao and Chairman Xi Jinping.
Shanxi officials demanded that the religious images be removed and replaced with photos of communist leaders in the homes of impoverished believers (above), Bitter Winter reported.
The ruling Communist Party of China has carried out widespread repression of all religious institutions in recent years.
Relevant directives included razing churches and mosques, banning Tibetan children from conducting Buddhist religious studies, and imprisoning more than a million members of Islamic ethnic minorities in so-called ‘re-education’ camps.
President Xi Jinping has ordered that all religions must ‘Sinicize’ to ensure they are loyal to the officially atheistic party.
Wang Yang, president of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, last year instructed the country’s officials to interpret the ideologies of different religions in accordance with “the core values of socialism.” A Chinese version of the Bible is seen above
Late last year, the Chinese central government ordered its censors to review and edit all translated versions of classical religious books to ensure that their messages reflect the principles of socialism.
The new editions should not contain any content that goes against the beliefs of the Communist Party, according to the country’s top religious officials.
Officials said the paragraphs deemed incorrect by the censors would be amended or re-translated.
The order was issued in November during a meeting held by the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, which oversees ethnic and religious affairs in China.
A group of 16 experts, believers and representatives of different religions from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China attended the conference, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
The meeting was chaired by Wang Yang, chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
Wang emphasized that religious authorities must follow President Xi’s instructions and interpret the ideologies of different religions in accordance with “the core values of socialism” and “the requirements of the time.”
He urged officials to build “a religious system with Chinese characteristics.”
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