A climate of fear and confusion descended upon Hong Kong almost immediately after Beijing’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee took just 15 minutes to sign off on the biggest changes to the territory since the handover from Great Britain 23 years ago today. Within six hours of a new security law being passed at just Read more
On behalf of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, I call on Christians of all traditions and people of all faiths, throughout Asia and the world, to pray for Hong Kong, and indeed for China and all her people, with great insistence. The government of China has imposed a new national security law on Hong Read more
The Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences is concerned about China’s new security law in Hong Kong. In a statement, Cardinal Maung Bo, Archbishop of Yangon in Myanmar and president of the Asian Bishops’ Conferences says the bishops are calling for Christians to pray for the people of Hong Kong and China. China’s President Xi Jinping Read more
The communist government in China is increasing measures to repress religions, including its mass detention of people. These and other measures to repress religions are part of China’s accelerated sinicization that clamps down on freedom of religion, according to the US State Department’s 2019 International Religious Freedom Report. The annual report released last week, says Read more
When I was 18, I arrived in Beijing, found my luggage had been lost in Karachi and, needing a change of clothes, bought a T-shirt that said: “You are not a real man if you have not climbed the Great Wall of China.” In subsequent years I not only walked along various parts of the Read more
Officials of the communist government in China imposed restrictions on the funeral of 98-year-old Bishop Joseph Zhu Baoyu of Nanyang. Officials allowed only 40 people to attend the May 9 funeral in Henan province. They also restricted the movement of people and banned parishioners from taking photographs of the service. Bishop Zhu died on May Read more
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is “morally culpable” through its negligence and repression, lies and propaganda for allowing coronavirus (COVID-19) to spread. It is having a lethal effect on the world’s poor, a cardinal from Myanmar says. “The Chinese regime led by the all-powerful Xi Jinping and the CCP — not its people — owes Read more
Christian funerals are banned in some areas of China as the government begins to enforce new regulations on religious practices. In the eastern province of Zhejiang, a set of Regulations on Centralized Funeral Arrangement are being enforced. These regulations ban priests from attending funeral prayers outside a religious place. The new rules – enacted in Read more
Cardinal Joseph Zen has taken aim at the Vatican for its silence on Hong Kong, the Uyghur concentration camps in Xinjiang and growing religious repression in mainland China. The city’s cardinal emeritus, who has been politically active in protests against any encroaching power by Beijing, used international media to take aim at the Holy See Read more
The Chinese Communist Party has affirmed its determination to control religion by issuing new translations and interpretations of “classic” religious works. The aim is to provide a state-ordained basis for spiritual life. The move signals a profound shift in the Communist Party’s approach to religion, where it is moving from political management to uncompromising constraint. Read more