China ramps up anti-Christians drive as schoolchildren are facing pressure from authorities to renounce their Christian faith in some parts of the country. The anti-Christians drive involves escalated restrictions and growing oppression; as Christian school goers are now being pressurized to renounce their Christian faith.
An international watchdog reports, in Zhejiang Province, Central China, students at a public school were asked to fill out questionnaires to declare their religious affiliations. It was explained that a local source from China informed that at least two Christian families were affected; when their children in their innocence wrote on the questionnaire that they are Christians. The affirmation meant trouble for the families as well.
It was not after filling out the forms; when the kids discovered that their answers had been escalated to the higher school management. Later the teachers invited thier parents and the children in for separate meetings. At these meetings, they were plainly asked to sign a declaration renouncing their Christian faith. In case, they declined to renounce thier Christian faith, there was a possibility that the children would be expelled from the school. “We signed it because we had no other choice,” one of the parents affected was quoted, “It will affect our kids’ future.”
This is already having a devastating impact on these families as they have reportedly stopped going to church; as they feel unsure about their safety in attending church services. “Currently these families are not attending our services,” source said, adding, “it is their first time to experience this kind of treatment and they are still in the middle of processing their feelings. It is shocking for them.”
In the face of growing persecution, the church is mushrooming though unseeingly. It is estimated that there is a total of 7% of Christian population in China. China ranks 16th on the list of Christian persecution compiled by Open Doors. Ever tightening restrictions on Christians coupled with increasing surveillance are pushing Christians to the wall; as the Communist Party seeks to eliminates all threats to supremacy. Recent restrictions on the internet and social media and the 2018 regulations on religion, which imposed a ban on under 18s attending church are severely limiting Christian freedom.
