China

China has escalated its crackdown on Christianity in recent weeks, forcibly removing crosses from Protestant and Catholic churches, destroying unregistered church buildings and even demolishing the structure of a legal Three-Self congregation.

China’s government launched a new campaign in April to eradicate underground house churches so that only state-sanctioned and heavily restricted Three-Self churches remain. The new campaign, according to International Christian Concern (ICC), is called Return to Zero. The goal is to “dismantle the scale [of churches], dissolve the organization, and dismiss the church,” sources told ICC.

Government leaders in China’s third most-populous province held a seminar last month to warn communist officials of the “enormous harm” Christianity poses on China’s security, according to China Aid, which promotes religious freedom within the country.

Chinese government officials within the past year have closed churches, removed crosses, buried Bibles and beaten Christians.

Two suspects were apprehended yesterday after a school shooting not far from Columbine High School left one student dead and eight others injured. The STEM School Highlands Ranch now joins the long list of such tragedies.

With its particular focus on China’s oppression of religious and human rights, an independent watchdog group has decried in its annual report the state of religious freedom across the globe.

Officials in China’s third largest province are training pastors to include communist ideology in their weekly sermons, according to a new report from a religious liberty watchdog.

More than 100 Chinese police officers and SWAT team members closed a newly constructed church and beat dozens of Christians who were guarding it, and then buried Bibles and hymnbooks before leaving.

China’s crackdown on Christianity escalated March 20 when the government of the fifth-largest city began issuing rewards to those who report “illegal religious activities,” including house church meetings.