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China: “West using Christianity to subvert our government”

March 17, 2019

This is a classic example of a government treating Christianity as if it were an alien element and a threat to the traditional culture of the people. In reality, Christianity has been present in China for many centuries, much longer than the Communist regime has been in power. The first Orthodox Christians entered China in 1685. After the Orthodox Church in China was almost wiped out during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, it experienced a revival in the 1980s.

However, Orthodox Christians and all Christians in China are now in extreme danger because of the Chinese government’s increasing tendency to make demands of the Churches and assert direct control over them. The Chinese government shows clear signs of intending to wipe out Christianity in the country altogether.

The Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle, Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, remains in prayer for the Christians of China and urgently requests the Chinese government to grant official recognition to the Chinese Orthodox Church, and full religious freedom to all the Christians of the country.

“China: ‘West using Christianity to subvert our govt,’” The Christian Institute, March 16, 2019:

Chinese officials have accused the West of trying to use Christianity to influence China’s culture and “subvert” the Government.

They warn that Christians must now follow ‘a Chinese model’ of the religion which includes a state-approved translation of the Bible.

The country’s constitution purports to allow religious freedom, but since President Xi Jinping took office in 2013, the Government has significantly tightened restrictions on religion.
Eradication

China aims to eradicate all foreign influences from Chinese culture, and this is reflected in its religious policies.

Xu Xiaohong, a government official and head of a national committee for Protestant churches, claimed: “Anti-China forces in the West are trying to continue to influence China’s social stability and even subvert our country’s political power through Christianity”.

He also said that churches must teach the core values of socialism and base their worship practices on Chinese culture….