PNW STAFF
The persecution of Christians in China is hardly new. Under Mao, under Deng, under Jiang, and under Ping, believers have always faced pressure--surveillance, forced church registration, cross removals, pastors jailed, worship sites shuttered. But we are witnessing something different now: persecution morphing. It is more technologically invasive, more strategic, more suffocating--and far more dangerous to the underground church than ever before.
From brick and mortar to bytes and bandwidth
Until recently, much of the CCP's clampdown operated in the physical realm: tear down the meeting hall, remove the cross, detain the pastor, force the congregation to sign documents renouncing faith. But with the launch of the Regulations on the Online Behaviour of Religious Clergy, the Party aims to wipe Christian witness not only from the streets but from the very airwaves of digital faith.
These 18 sweeping restrictions carry the unmistakable signal: spontaneous religious speech online is effectively criminalized. Clergy may speak, but only through the Party's megaphone. They may preach only in ways that affirm party ideology. They must uphold the leadership of the CCP, promote "socialist values," and embrace "Sinicisation" of their doctrine. All content must be filtered through -- and approved by -- state censors. If a pastor livestreams a sermon, teaches Sunday school online, connects with believers abroad -- each becomes potential grounds for punishment.
Particularly alarming are the bans targeting youth: no religious content may be directed online to minors, no online catechism, no formation of religious education for young people via the web. The regime has weaponized "protecting minors" as a legal rationale to silence Christian teaching altogether. Church leaders are now required to submit credentials to internet providers; they must verify their standing before sharing anything. The statutory articles sweep in prohibitions on monetization, AI-generated religious content, and vaguely defined "hate speech" or "fake news" that could be applied to dissent. Violations risk imprisonment, closure, or demolition of churches.
This crackdown is not incidental. It is ideological. Under the guise of "maintaining order," the regime demands total alignment. The sacred must belong to the state. Independent religious voice--even in whispers--is treated as subversion. The digital leash has now become a chokehold.
These statutory restrictions are not just theoretical: they are already being enforced with ferocity. In a coordinated wave across at least seven provinces, over two dozen pastors associated with the underground Zion Church network were arrested in October. Many are still missing, others held under house arrest; their homes and churches ransacked, church property confiscated, families harassed.
The charges? In many cases, they are framed as "illegal dissemination of religious content over the internet" -- precisely the new crime the CCP has codified. The Party is no longer merely suppressing physical gatherings but criminalizing the digital presence of faith.
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