Page 6 - Persecution Trends Report 2025

PERSECUTION
TRENDS 2025
EASTERN
ASIA
CHINA NORTH
KOREA
CHINA
Persecution of Christians in China
is increasing and continues to be
at its worst level since the Cultural
Revolution, said our partners.
This is because of the Chinese
Communist Party (CCP) policy of
‘sinicization’ which seeks to infiltrate
churches with communist ideology and
‘Xi Jinping Thought’, making Christianity
more palatable to the Government, with
the end goal of assimilation. In practice
this means preaching and promoting
doctrines that support and comply
with the CCP’s leadership, ideology and
values.
As a result there will be ongoing
pressures in 2025 to conform to a
surveillance state intent on reducing the
growth and influence of the church.
The year ahead is likely to result in
increased arrests and imprisonments.
Christians are not being directly
martyred for their faith, although some
may die as a result of not being able
to cope physically or mentally with
imprisonment and torture. Reports
of Christians leaving China, including
pastors who fear being blacklisted and
therefore prevented from travelling, are
likely to continue.
President Xi Jinping continues to seek religious
‘sinicization’ in China
NORTH KOREA
Persecution of Christians always
remains high in North Korea, said our
partner, Voice of the Martyrs Korea
(VOMK).
This is because the Government
regards religion as a tool that
foreign powers use to colonize other
countries.
VOMK said that more citizens in North
Korea were forming negative opinions
about the Government because of the
lack of official support people received
during the Covid crisis. Due to this, the
state had intensified its crackdown on
signs of foreign influence, including
religion, among civilians. Tightening
border security had also been one of
the main ways in which Pyongyang
had sought to limit external influence.
‘During Covid, officials were less
inclined to carry out detailed
house searches out of a concern for
contracting the disease, so Christians
were able to make good use of this
opportunity to [move materials
around] or, in some cases, even to meet.
Christians may face increased pressures
as strict monitoring procedures return
or even exceed past levels.’
VOMK said it was likely that
more Christians will be arrested,
imprisoned, martyred and displaced
due to technological developments and
an increase in North Korea’s general
crackdown on foreign influences in
2025. It was also likely that North
Korean believers living in China will be
arrested, imprisoned, and displaced,
but not that they would be martyred,
although ‘they may be sent back to
North Korea where they could be
martyred’.
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It said the Chinese Government
had become increasingly active in
repatriating North Korean defectors
who were looking to flee to South
Korea. However, it seems that local
officials have been working to provide
documentation and residency status
to defectors who had settled in China,
as long as they engaged in religious
activities only amongst themselves,
making sure especially not to associate
with foreigners or ethnically Korean-
Chinese citizens.
CENTRAL
ASIA
The intensity of the persecution of
Christians in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,
Karakalpakstan (an autonomous
region within Uzbekistan), Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan and Turkmenistan is
expected to remain broadly unchanged
in 2025, said our partner.
Christians will continue to face fines
for taking their children to church
and for holding meetings illegally
(since they lack state registration).
And only in isolated cases (in places
where Christians have developed good
relations with local authorities) will
the situation be more normal.
‘Although these countries have secular
constitutions, in reality, the level of
Islamic influence continues to grow,
inspired by political, economic and
financial pressure from states such as
Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq and
Afghanistan.’
Radical groups linked with the
governments can also stir up local
opposition to Christians.
Another driver of hostility towards