Chinese Christians Declare Country 'No Longer Safe for Us,' Seek To Flee
As China’s policies on surveillance intensify and a crackdown on religion in the communist state continues, Christians are fleeing the country, Fox News reported.
The ruling Communist Party of China has recently engaged in a crackdown on any manifestations of organized religion in the country, knocking down mosques and churches.
Gordon Chang, Gatestone Institute Senior Fellow, told Steve Hilton of “The Next Revolution” that China “plan[s] to have a nationwide social credit system in place” by next year.
The system, Chang says, will score citizens based on everyday activities like jaywalking or social media posts criticizing Chinese President Xi Jinping.
As part of the crackdown on religion, Tibetan children have been barred from taking part in Buddhist religious studies, and over a million Muslims have been placed in “re-education centers,” Fox News reported.
President Xi Jinping’s goal is for all religions to “Sinicize” and pledge their loyalty to the Communist Party.
A Christian family from China, who were members of the Early Rain Covenant Church, described their experience under the totalitarian regime to The Associated Press.
Liao Qiang said his church was raided by the government for its opposition to the party in December 2018.
He described how the Chinese government put them under surveillance for seven months and ultimately detained them after the raid for being members of a non-government-sanctioned church.
The 49-year-old fled to Taiwan last week with his 23-year-old daughter, Ren. They are now hoping to be granted asylum in the United States.
Many other members of Early Rain are still detained. Its pastor, Wang Yi, held a prayer service every year to commemorate the Tiananmen Square Massacre where Chinese troops killed and wounded thousands of protestors.
Speaking after a Sunday service in Taipei, Ren said that she was forced to report her location to the police using social media whenever she left the house because “she was told her safety couldn’t be guaranteed if she disobeyed,” the AP reported.
“That’s when I knew it was no longer safe for us here, and that my children were most in danger,” her father said.
Ren said she hopes she can return to China someday in the future.
“Whether it’s five years, or even 10 years, we’ll eventually make our way back to where God wants us to serve,” she said.
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