For background on Orthodox Christianity in China, see here.
For previous ChristianPersecution.com coverage of the persecution of Christians in China, see here.
“Lisu and Nu Ethnic Minority Christians Arrested in Yunnan,” by Li Xiaosi, Bitter Winter, September 19, 2022:
Christianity’s success among these populations has been spectacular. This does not please the CCP. On September 16 popular Pastor Wang Shunping has been formally arrested.
Since it started publication in 2018, Bitter Winter has reported about the “activism” of the Public Security Bureau and Religious Affairs Bureau in Fugong county of Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture in the southwestern province of Yunnan, which carried out a series of raids targeting house churches.
There is a reason why house churches are treated more harshly than elsewhere in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture. It is an area of China where Han Chinese are a minority. 52% of the population belongs to the Lisu and Nu ethnic minorities. Both speak Tibeto-Burman languages.
The CCP has a real obsession about religion playing a key role in helping ethnic minorities who resist Sinicization and affirm their rights. In the case of Lisu, this obsession is magnified by the fact that the majority of Lisu in China are Christian. Estimates of Christian Lisu in Yunnan vary from the official figure of 300,000 to 700,000, a number often quoted by the Christians themselves.
The Nu are a much smaller ethnic group, and despite attempts at Christian evangelization dating back to the 19th century, most of them still practice their traditional faith. However, even among the Nu, Christianity has made significant inroads in recent years. One interesting phenomenon is that, while Lisu and Nu had been traditionally enemies of each other, in many Christian churches in Yunnan Nu and Lisu worship together….
