Western powers are trying to use Christianity to influence China’s society and even subvert the government, says the head of the National Committee of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches in China.
Xu Xiaohong is vowing to rid Christianity in the country of any Western “imprint,” calling for further “sinicisation” of religion.
Xu says there are many problems with Christianity in the country, including “infiltration” from abroad and “private meeting places”.
“Anti-China forces in the west are trying to continue to influence China’s social stability and even subvert our country’s political power through Christianity, and it is doomed to fail,” he said, speaking to parliament’s largely ceremonial advisory body.
“For individual black sheep who, under the banner of Christianity, participate in subverting national security, we firmly support the country to bring them to justice.“
He told delegates to a Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in Beijing that it’s necessary to “recognise that Chinese churches are surnamed ‘China,’ not ‘the West’.
Because Christianity was spread to China at a time when Western powers were invading the country, Xu pointed out that the religion will always be connected to the “West”.
Western influence, he said, made the churches in China want to stay independent and focus on themselves.
“Therefore, people often say: ‘One more Christian, one less Chinese'”.
Eliminating the “stigma of foreign religion” in China’s Christianity is the only way its believers can benefit society, he said.
“Only by continually drawing on the fine traditions of Chinese culture can China’s Christianity be rooted in the fertile soil of Chinese culture and become a religion recognised by the Chinese themselves.
“Only by continuously carrying forward and practising the core values of socialism can our Christianity truly be suited to socialist society.”
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