by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - As part of its ongoing campaign to suppress Christianity in China, the Chinese communist government has now closed down Bible Apps and Christian WeChat public accounts, International Christian Concern reports.
In a statement to International Christian Concern, Father Francis Liu of the Chinese Christian Fellowship of Righteousness said a number of believers’ WeChat accounts, including those of the “Gospel League” and “Life Quarterly” have been shut down.
The landing page of these accounts reads: “[We] received a report that [this account] violates the ‘Internet User Public Account Information Services Management Provisions’ and its account has been blocked and suspended,” ICC reports.
Moreover, Bible Apps have been removed from China's App Store in China, and hard copy Bibles cannot be purchased online, ICC said. Bible Apps must be downloaded using VPN to circumvent the Firewall.
Notably, book shops owned by churches of the state-approved Three-Self denomination are selling books that promote President Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) ideology. “Even their WeChat accounts are turning into propaganda channels for CCP,” International Christian Concern said in its report.
The level of persecution against Christians in China has been determined as “very high” by the US Open Doors persecution watchdog group; China currently ranks 17 on the Open Doors Watch List of countries which persecute Christians.