Raids, closures and threats with financial penalties by the Chinese government have intensified against practicing Christians.
In June, four law enforcement officials were led by the deputy secretary of Leiyang in Hunan province in a raid conducted against a house church.
“They confiscated the church’s donation box and destroyed 10 Bible verses on the walls,” the magazine Bitter Winter reported. Bitter Winter focuses on religious liberties in China.
When officials were asked why they were destroying church property, one said it was because of the Christians’ “disobedience.”
It is “illegal to hold religious gatherings without a permit or joining the Three-Self Church,” they said.
The Three-Self Patriotic Movement is the communist government-controlled church organization that all Protestant churches are required to join in China.
In April, police in the central province of Henan raided a church gathering and confiscated its Bibles and hymnbooks. Eight congregation members were taken to a police station for interrogation. One of the church members who was interrogated told Bitter Winter an officer said they “could not believe in God in China.”
The director of another house church told Bitter Winter that he was threatened with a fine of about $4,300 if he was discovered holding a gathering. If caught a second time, that fine would increase to $43,000.