Christian Post | Leah MarieAnn Klett | January 5, 2020
Since the initial implementation of the “Regulations on religious affairs” in 2018, Christians and other religious groups have experienced heightened levels of persecution. China has banned online sales of Bibles, leveled churches, and arrested hundreds of Christians for “inciting subversion of state power.”
In December, China sentenced Wang Yi, founder of one of China’s largest unregistered churches, to nine years in prison for “subversion of state power.” The U.S. condemned the sentencing as “another example of “Beijing’s intensification of repression of Chinese Christians and members of other religious groups.”
The Chinese government has also been accused of detaining more than a million Muslims in what it calls re-education camps.
In a letter released Dec. 31, the China Human Rights Lawyers Group warned that it seems as though the “Cultural [Revolution] is returning in covert form” across China.
“Basic freedom of speech is being suppressed, sensitive news is prohibited, ideological discussions in universities are being shut down. Many matters of societal welfare are politicized, and internet censorship is the norm,” they wrote. “The state of human rights in China is in rapid decline.
“Human rights violations in the Chinese frontier are being roundly criticized and condemned by many countries. China’s leaders seem to have become the enemies of civilized countries overnight. By the looks of things, there is really no reason to be optimistic as we look at the festering regression of China’s human rights situation throughout 2019.”
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