BEIJING – For more than two years, Missions Box News has brought our readers reports of the Chinese Communist Party’s widespread campaign to clamp down on Christianity in mainland China. The big news out of China in January 2019 was not tariffs and trade wars. The CCP demanded that the first of the 10 commandments be removed from all churches. While house churches were being shuttered, even registered Three-Self churches were expected to comply with the order.

Now the authorities have demanded that the 10 Commandments be removed in their entirety from all Christian churches, including those who had been cooperative up to this point. The churches have been instructed to replace the commandments with quotes and excerpts from President Xi Jinping’s speeches. One of the approved quotes is,

“The core socialist values and Chinese culture will help to immerse various religions of China. Support religious community in interpreting religious thought, doctrines, and teachings in a way that conforms with the needs of the progress of the times. Resolutely guard against the infiltration of Western ideology, and consciously resist the influence of extremist thought.”

The CCP is surveilling churches (and homes, businesses, and public places), to ensure that the Chinese people are following their mandates in every aspect of their lives.

According to Bitter Winter, a magazine on religious liberty and human rights in China,

“Some congregations have been threatened to be blacklisted by the government, meaning that their travels will be restricted and schooling and future employment of their offspring will be impeded if they refused to overhaul their churches according to the current national policies.”

The Four Requirements

In addition to quotes from President Xi, churches must display “The Four Requirements” of the CCP.

• Ritually raise the national flag, often while singing the national anthem;
• Teach believers about and promote the Chinese Constitution, laws, and regulations;
• Preach and promote the “Core Socialist Values”; and
• Promote “China’s excellent traditional culture.”

The Core Socialist Values

The “Core Socialist Values” consist of three levels of four tenets.

• National – prosperity, democracy, civility, and harmony
• Social – freedom, equality, justice, and the rule of law
• Individual – patriotism, dedication, integrity, and friendship

The communist regime is determined to Sinicize religious faith, making all faiths subordinate and subject to the authority of the state. It is not illegal for Christians to worship in China. But they must worship according to the dictates of the CCP.

To read more news on Christian Persecution on Missions Box, go here.