Stories tagged with: china

• Report: In China 'there is no longer a safe place to be a Christian'

  by Diana Chandler, posted Thursday, July 23, 2020 (3 years ago)

  

  International Christian Concern photo

  SILVER SPRING, Md. (BP) -- China persecutes Christians to gain leverage in future diplomatic relations with the U.S., a Christian seeking U.S. asylum claimed in a video released Wednesday (July 22) alongside a new report by International Christian Concern (ICC). Read More

• 'Walking worship' new lifeline for Chinese Christians

  by Diana Chandler, posted Thursday, January 16, 2020 (3 years ago)

  

  iStock

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- "Walking worship" is what the pastor calls it. After the Chinese government destroyed his underground church in Beijing, the congregation resorted to a new thing.

  "Without any place to worship, because any place we gather is not safe," Xiang En told Baptist Press Wednesday (Jan. 15), "we used a kind of unique form of worship in the church history. We call it 'walking worship,' WW." The church multimedia team records a weekly audio file of an entire service, from the call to worship to the benediction, and safely distributes it to congregation members. Read More

• U.S., E.U. urge release of jailed Chinese pastor

  by Diana Chandler, posted Thursday, January 02, 2020 (3 years ago)

  

  ChinaAid photo

  SICHUAN, China (BP) -- The United States and the European Union are urging China to free pastor Wang Yi, sentenced to nine years in prison in what religious liberty advocates call Christian persecution.

  China pronounced Wang guilty Dec. 30 of "illegal business operations" and "inciting subversion of state power," convictions religious liberty advocates say stem solely from his leadership as founding pastor of Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, Sichuan. Read More

• Crackdown on Christianity escalates in China

  by Staff/Morning Star News, posted Thursday, December 19, 2019 (3 years ago)

  

  China Aid photo

  BEIJING (BP) -- As more government officials in China are empowered to close churches and a "social credit" system threatens to block Christians from schools, bank loans and jobs, authorities have taken harsh measures against more churches, sources said.

  In Beijing, Early Rain Covenant Church elder Qin Defu was sentenced to four years in prison Nov. 29, according to advocacy group China Aid Association (CAA). Qin was charged with illegal business operations as a result of the church's using 20,000 Christian books, according to CAA. Read More

• China frees Christian prisoner amid ongoing persecution

  by Diana Chandler, posted Friday, October 25, 2019 (3 years ago)

  

  China Aid photo

  CHINA (BP) -- China has freed an imprisoned Christian but continues a reign of persecution including church demolitions and restrictions barring foreign students from worship, religious liberty advocates reported.

  China released house church member Gou Zhongcan Oct. 22 after seven months in prison, International Christian Concern (ICC) reported Thursday (Oct. 24). Gou, a member of Early Rain Covenant Church (ERCC) in Sichuan, had gone missing in March and was seen days later with several plainclothes police, witnesses told ICC. Police have taken into custody 150 members of the church since fall, 2018. Read More

• Explainer: The NBA, China and Hong Kong

  by Josh Wester, posted Thursday, October 10, 2019 (3 years ago)

  

  compiled from iStock images

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- A tweet from an executive with the Houston Rockets has touched off an international controversy and brought attention to an ongoing dispute between Hong Kong and China. On Friday, Oct. 4, Daryl Morey, general manager of the Texas-based NBA franchise, posted an image on Twitter with the words: "Fight For Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong."

  In response, multiple Chinese organizations including the Chinese Basketball Association, the Rockets' Chinese sponsors, and Tencent, a Chinese conglomerate that holds the NBA's rights in China, announced they would end all commercial partnerships with the NBA team. To quell the controversy, Morey later deleted the post and apologized, and the NBA released a statement clarifying Morey's views did "not represent the Rockets or the NBA." Read More

• Hong Kong Christians: Bill's removal not enough

  by Diana Chandler, posted Wednesday, September 04, 2019 (4 years ago)

  

  Screen capture from Twitter

  HONG KONG (BP) -- The withdrawal of an extradition bill that threatened religious freedom in Hong Kong is not enough to satisfy Christians and others amid protests there, a Christian advocate told Baptist Press Wednesday (Sept. 4).

  "Their anger lies with the excessive use of police/force, police brutality, and prosecution of protestors or activists in the past few months," International Christian Concern's (ICC) Gina Goh told BP. Read More

• Hong Kong Christians fear China persecution

  by Diana Chandler, posted Tuesday, August 13, 2019 (4 years ago)

  

  Screen capture from CBS News

  HONG KONG (BP) -- A proposed extradition law sparking violent protests at Hong Kong's airport would make it easier for China to persecute Hong Kong Christians, a religious freedom advocate told Baptist Press.

  Christians, who comprise about 10 percent of Hong Kong residents, are participating in the protests while promoting peaceful resistance, said Gina Goh, International Christian Concern's regional manager for Southeast Asia. Read More

• Christian prisoner in spotlight at China rights event

  by Diana Chandler, posted Wednesday, August 07, 2019 (4 years ago)

  

  ChinaAid photo

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- The release of an underground church leader reportedly jailed in China for his Christianity was among pleas at an interfaith roundtable U.S. Vice President Mike Pence attended on China's religious rights abuses.

  China should release Hu Shigen, held since 2015 on charges of subverting state power, religious freedom advocate Gary Bauer urged at the meeting, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said. Reportedly, Hu's baptism photo was used to convict him. Read More

• Trade war could disrupt Bible supply, publishers warn

  by Grace Thornton, posted Thursday, July 11, 2019 (4 years ago)

  

  iStock photo

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- Americans could see a disruption in the nation's Bible supply if President Trump enforces tariffs on printed materials from China, according to Christian publishers.

  The 25 percent tariff on books -- part of a long list of tariffs proposed by President Trump as tensions with China escalated in recent months -- would effectively be a "Bible Tax," according to Mark Schoenwald, president of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, which owns both Thomas Nelson and Zondervan. Read More