China Kicks Christian Persecution Into Overdrive, Attacks on Faithful Skyrocket: Report
It’s no secret that Christians in China face a government that is less than hospitable to their faith.
Recently, however, things have taken a turn for the worse for believers living under the communist regime.
Thanks to data compiled by Open Doors USA, a nonprofit organization that supports persecuted Christians around the world, we finally have a glimpse of the shocking rise of anti-Christian violence in China.
Attacks on churches have skyrocketed, with Open Doors estimating in its 2020 report there were at least 5,576 within the past year, up from 1,847 reported the prior year.
Open Doors noted in a news release that since many attacks go unreported, there were likely many more government-sanctioned attacks on Christian churches than just the ones documented in its report.
While arrests of Christians themselves remained steady, attacks on believers also rose to shocking levels.
Over 1,000 were reported from November 2018 to October 2019, magnitudes greater than the previous year’s total of 58.
Because of the shocking disregard that the government has for the plight of Chinese Christians, the communist nation was given a fitting place on the Open Doors World Watch List — the organization’s ranking of countries based on their hostility toward and persecution of believers.
China landed 23rd in the rankings, a jump of four spots from 2019.
According to Open Doors, Chinese Christians are worse off than Christians who suffer Islamic oppression in places like Morocco (number 26 on the list), Qatar (No. 27), Turkey (No. 36) and Malaysia (No. 40).
There seems to be a clear reason why China targets Christians with such vigor.
Christianity, which teaches disregard for the passing mortal world, exists in direct contradiction to the supreme communist state — an organization which relies solely on the physical world to derive its power.
China has also come under criticism for oppressing ethnic Muslims in one border region.
In the Xinjiang Province, Muslims who not willing to convert to a Chinese way of life by embracing cultural and religious norms are often sent to reeducation camps, cruel and inhumane places operated by authority of the ruling communist party.
While it may or may not be divine retribution, China’s increased persecution of Christians was followed by seemingly unrelated disasters for the massive Asian country.
First, pig herds were decimated as a disease spread through the nation’s pork supply.
This drove hog prices sky-high, making it tough for the Chinese to keep buying the popular meat.
Desperate for cheaper meat, some are even turning to dog and other alternatives.
Next, a mystery coronavirus began spreading in December 2019, and now threatens to reach all corners of China as major cultural festivals approach.
All of this had a negative effect on China’s economy, undoing much of the work the central government had meticulously planned and crafted.
While it’s difficult to prove that the country’s disasters are a result of its treatment of Christians, China is doing itself no favors in the eyes of the world by persecuting believers of any faith.
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