China’s President Warns Against Religious Infiltration

By Gary Nguyen --
01 May 2016 --

The Chinese government is worried about overseas infiltration via religious means.

The Constitution of China promises “freedom of religious belief” to its citizens. However, Ding Cuimei lost her life two weeks ago while trying to exercise her freedom of religious belief.

The incident happened in Zhumadian, a prefecture-level city in southern Henan province, China. Ding Cuimei and her husband Li Jiangong, the leader of their church, tried to stop a government-sanctioned church demolition team from demolishing their church. In an act of utmost cruelty, the workmen just went ahead with their job and demolished the church, burying the couple alive inside the church. Li Jiangong somehow managed to dig himself out, however, Ding Cuimei suffocated to death underneath the rubble. Two workmen have been apprehended by the government in connection with the incident, however, in a country where the atheist government itself is involved in the persecution of religious minorities, whether the culprits will be punished is a question that only time will tell.

China’s President Warns Against Religious Infiltration.[/tweetthis]

Bob Fu, the founder and president of China Aid, an organization that provides legal aid to Christians in China, condemned the incident, and tagged it as a cruel and murderous act. He said the case is a serious violation of the rights of life, rule of law, and religious freedom. Fu has asked the Chinese authorities to take immediate action and hold the murderers accountable. He has asked them to provide adequate protection to the members of the church. Bob Fu is a Chinese-American Christian pastor.

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping, at a conference held at Beijing on religions, said that China has to protect itself from religious influences from foreign countries. They have to prevent ideological infringement by extremists. All the religious groups in China must adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC). President Jinping further said that all the Communists must be “unyielding Marxist atheists.”

China recently saw a number of religious restrictions, from the ban on wearing beards and veils to the removal of crosses from church. The CPC is clearly worried about the increasing interest of Chinese citizens in religion. As of now, the number of Christians in China far outnumbers the members of CPC. According to Yang Fenggang, an expert on religion at the Purdue University in Indiana, China could be home to the world's largest Christian population by the year 2030.

China's Xi warns against religious infiltration from abroad https://t.co/6o8sUbCzPk via @YahooNews
— Peter Shafton (@ShaftonP) April 25, 2016

One thing about the current Chinese government is that it is not trying to suppress one specific religion but all the religions in China. Last year, CPC tried to intervene in choosing the next Dalai Lama.