Thirty-five years after tanks and troops moved into Tiananmen Square, the persecution of Chinese Christians is the worst since the Cultural Revolution. And it is spreading to Hong Kong.
A new law could force Catholic priests in Hong Kong to reveal the secrets of the confessional. Partners of UK-based Release International say the British government has a responsibility to stand up for freedom of faith in its former colony.
June 4 is 35 years to the day since China crushed the Tiananmen Square protests. Following the destruction of the democracy movement, China has progressively stepped up the persecution of Christians in the country.
The latest report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) warns China’s crackdown on Christians is tightening. That persecution has extended to Hong Kong and beyond China’s national borders.
Hong Kong
According to USCIRF, increased political pressure, including the draconian National Security Law, ‘has led to self-censorship among Hong Kong’s religious leaders and closures of some religious groups.’
Release International (RI) serves the persecuted Church worldwide. Its China partner says while persecution remains less severe than on the mainland, religious freedom in Hong Kong is under growing threat.
Protestant pastor Garry Pang Moon-yuen was the first Hong Kong clergyman to be convicted under the recent National Security Law. He was jailed in 2022 after being accused of preaching sedition.
And new legislation, passed in March 2024, could force Catholic priests to reveal the secrets of the confessional.
Under Article 23, priests could face a 14-year jail sentence if they refuse to reveal so-called crimes of treason shared during confession.
RI partner Bob Fu says, ‘For Catholics, this is supposed to guarantee absolute confidentiality between the priest and the confessor. If priests are forced to violate that, China will go down a very dangerous path towards persecution.’
There have already been arrests for posting so-called seditious posts on social media.
And on May 30, a landmark trial found 14 pro-democracy campaigners guilty of ‘conspiracy to commit subversion’.
‘The long-running crackdown on mainland China now appears to be extending to Hong Kong,’ says Paul Robinson of Release International.
Adds Bob Fu: ‘In mainland China, thousands of churches have been demolished and crosses destroyed. Pastors are being imprisoned, and taking tithes and offerings has been criminalised as financial fraud. Many Christians have left Hong Kong, and their preferred destination is the United Kingdom.’
A recent report by the British and Foreign Bible Society found thousands of Hong Kong Christians have fled to the UK, establishing some 30 new churches. As a result, the study finds the Chinese Church is now – by far – the fastest growing in Britain.
‘Moral obligation’
Hong Kong became a British colony in 1842 and was ceded back to China in 1997. Bob Fu, a former Tiananmen protestor, believes the British government has a moral obligation to protect religious freedom in its former colony.
‘Hong Kongers are expecting the UK to stand strong for their religious freedom and to speak up for them, and to take all necessary measures to protect those who flee persecution.’
Release International’s annual Persecution Trends report highlights China as a country of particular concern. And the new USCIRF report drives that message home:
‘In 2023, religious freedom conditions in China deteriorated. The government intensified its ‘sinicization of religion’ policy, demanding that all major religious groups obey the Chinese Communist Party and its ideology and policies.’
The persecution of Protestant house churches has also increased. According to USCIRF: ‘The government continued its nationwide crackdown on house churches, detaining, arresting, and sentencing independent Protestants on security and criminal charges. Authorities tortured Christians held in secret detention centres and prisons.’
Religious freedom
Says Paul Robinson of RI: ‘Religious freedom is the cornerstone of all freedoms. Our partners describe the current crackdown on Christians as the harshest since Mao Tse Tung’s Cultural Revolution.
USCIRF report that China is maintaining a malign presence is at least 53 countries to target religious groups and dissidents overseas. RI partner Bob Fu had first-hand experience of this when activists believed to be in the pay of China staged protests outside his home in Texas.
According to Fu, similar groups have attacked and beaten Chinese Christians in other countries to try to silence them.
Says Paul Robinson: ‘Together we call on the world to wake up and recognise the severity of the persecution in China that is gathering pace. This threat against Christians goes beyond their national borders.’
Release International is active in some 30 countries. It works through partners to prayerfully, pastorally, and practically support the families of Christian martyrs, prisoners of faith and their families. It also supports Christians suffering oppression and violence, and those forced to flee.
