Chinese City Offering Rewards for People to Turn in Christian Groups

A city in southern China is offering $1,500 to citizens willing to inform on “illegal religious groups,” ramping up China’s crackdown on underground churches.

The Guangzhou Department of Ethnic and Religious Affairs officially announced the offer of the reward on its website, saying that anyone who provides information about the structure of an illegal religious group, or information leading to the capture of key members and leaders of those groups would receive 10,000 Yuan. The announcement comes as part of Guangzhou officials’ increasingly severe crackdown on Christian churches that have not registered with China’s communist government. . .

Guangzhou authorities raided and shut down Rongguili Church in December of 2018, claiming that the unregistered church had violated China’s Religious Affairs Regulation. The church, which served a congregation of roughly 5,000 Christian faithful, was one of the most prominent centers of Christian worship in southern China. Christians in Guangzhou, however, are not alone in suffering persecution from Chinese government officials.

Shortly before the closure of Rongguili Church, authorities in Chengdu shut down Early Rain Covenant Church and arrested its pastor and 100 of its 500 members. Authorities in Beijing shut down Zion Church, which served 1,500, in September of that year. Chinese authorities have repeatedly kidnapped and detained pastors and priests who refuse to submit to the Chinese Communist Party. At least four regional governments have also banned children from attending church and any other religious activity and threatened any believers caught taking a child to church with severe penalties. (Read more from “Chinese City Offering Rewards for People to Turn in Christian Groups” HERE)

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