For background on Orthodox Christianity in China, see here.
For previous ChristianPersecution.com coverage of the persecution of Christians in China, see here.
“Nanning Christian Pastor Detained—For No Reason Whatsoever,” by Liang Changpu, Bitter Winter, August 15, 2023:
The vague provision punishing “disturbing the social order in the name of religion” was enforced against Pastor Park Kwang-Zhe of New Life Christian Church.
These days, the CCP does not need any specific reason to detain Christian house church pastors.
As the document we reproduce, sent by the church’s co-workers to several human rights media outlets, demonstrates, Pastor Park Kwang-Zhe of New Life Christian Church was detained in Shibu town, Xixiangtang district, Nanning, Guangxi province, on August 8, 2023.
The provision enforced was Article 27(2) of the Public Security Law, which punishes those “disturbing the social order… in the name of any religion or Qigong.” This is not to be confused with Article 27(1) of the same law, which punishes the activities of the religious groups banned as xie jiao (“heterodox teachings,” sometimes translated as “cults”).
House church members have long complained that “disturbing the social order” may mean just everything—which allows the police to detain their pastors and devotees for no reason whatsoever. Some police officers explained to them that simply being active in an “illegal” form of religion, including a Christian house church not part of the government-controlled Three-Self Church, already “disturbs the social order.”…
