Fears Grow That China Will Class House Churches as Cults

Authorities Urged to Determine Whether Cults are 'Harmful to Society' by Alex Buchan LONDON (Compass) -- The Chinese government sponsored an International Symposium on Evil Cults in Beijing November 8-10 that urged local authorities not to inquire too closely into the beliefs of accused cults. Instead, authorities were encouraged to assess whether they are "harmful ... Read more

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On Cults, Leaders and Politics in China

Letters from Chinese Christians Detail Local Problems and Persecution ANHUI "Here we only have one registered church, which is packed out with people standing in the courtyard. However, since the church was opened, none of the accounts listing all the believers' donations have ever been made public to them. The pastor has dismissed several Christians ... Read more

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Ongoing Harassment of the Church in China

ANHUI PROVINCE

"The most severe persecution happened to us on Sunday, October 17, 1999. They detained 150 Christians and prepared to send some of them to 'reform through education' camps for three years. They fined some of us 2,000 RMB. They didn't even give me a receipt. (Society here is now so corrupt!) But we did not cease to meet."

-- Letter from Mr. Zhang dated March 28, 2000

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Ongoing Harassment of the Church in China

"The most severe persecution happened to us on Sunday, October 17, 1999. They detained 150 Christians and prepared to send some of them to 'reform through education' camps for three years. They fined some of us 2,000 RMB. They didn't even give me a receipt. (Society here is now so corrupt!) But we did not cease to meet."

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Crackdown continues in Anhui, China

In Anhui province in eastern China -- a center of Christian house church activity -- the provincial government is enforcing a repressive religious policy that has continued for many years and shows no sign of abatement. And reliable house church sources say control is being further tightened.

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High Profile Prisoner Released, but Others Arrested in China

Zhang Rongliang, also known as David Zhang, is at large in China despite receiving a three-years' hard labor sentence in December 1999. Reliable reports from central China say he was able to buy himself out of jail. But Born Again movement leader Xu Yongze remains incarcerated, despite having completed his three-year sentence on March 15, and 10 more house church leaders were arrested in southeast China in May.

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