International Christian Concern | Jan. 10, 2019
According to recent documents issued in China’s northern Shanxi province and central Henan province, China is now establishing ‘church-free zones’ near schools while asking local churches to share lists of youth members.
Bitter Winter Magazine reports that a document entitled Implementation Plan on the Special Governance of Private Christian Gathering Sites, which was issued by the Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs of a city in the northern Shanxi Province, calls for the “centralized remediation” of religious meeting venues near colleges and universities (remediation implying to remove the unwanted churches).
Another document, entitled Key Tasks of Phase Three and Division of Labor of Units Directly Under the County Government, issued by the Religious Affairs Bureau of a county in the central Henan Province, stipulates: “All private Christian gathering sites around universities and colleges, as well as on-campus activity sites, are to be shut down in accordance with the law.”
