Christians 'Standing in the Way' of China's Xi Jinping's Totalitarian Rule
What started several years ago as a small government campaign against unregistered churches has turned into all-out war
http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2018/december/pro-life-groups-warn-new-bill-could-turn-california-universities-into-abortion-factories
Unlike Deng Xiaoping, who helped launch the country's reforms 40 years ago and wanted to reduce the power and influence of the Communist Party over civil society, China's current leader believes in the absolute power of the Party and wants his government to exert control over every aspect of Chinese life. ``The Chinese government has also ratcheted up restrictions over Buddhism in Tibetan areas and imposed unprecedented control over religious practices in the predominantly Muslim region of Xinjiang,'' Human Rights Watch added. On December 9, authorities in the city of Chengdu, in China's southwestern Sichuan province, arrested pastor Wang Yi, along with his wife and 100 members of Early Rain Covenant Church.
Authorities shut down the church and charged pastor Wang with `` inciting subversion of state power. Johnson, writing for the New York Times, said the charge against Mr. Wang and his wife, Jiang Rong, ``was far more severe than what other leaders face and that the term ``subversion of state power is ``a catchall charge often used against dissidents and political activists who speak out against the government. This past Sunday morning, members of Early Rain Covenant Church were blocked from entering their worship building. ``And that's the exciting thing, all across China, there are house churches, there are what they call ` family churches ' and the reason the Communist government is so worried is because there are far more Christians in China than there are members of the Communist Party,'' Nettleton told CBN News.
Fenggang Yang, a leading expert on religion in China, says what started several years ago as a small government campaign against unregistered churches has turned into all-out war. Mr. Fengang, who once predicted that China could become the world's largest Christian nation, says the government, headed by Xi Jinping, views Christianity as a threat to the party's long-term political aspirations. ``Under Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party, they are really trying to establish a totalitarian rule of Chinese society and the Christians are standing in the way of totalitarianism, so that's why they've become a target. ``Maybe because of his background as a human rights lawyer, or just because he was filled with the Holy Spirit, Wang Yi gave riveting sermons about a huge variety of topics, from problems in society to Biblical history. Wang gave up his law career to pursue his calling as a pastor and started Early Rain Covenant Church in China's Sichuan province.