China orders towns to count how many citizens ‘Believe in God’ and then monitor them.
The Communist Party of China is threatening the officials in towns and villages with repercussions if the number of christians identified is wrong. Three government officials were suspended in April when their report to the government was too low.
An unidentified local government official in the province of Henan told Bitter Winter, a watchdog that monitors religious freedom in the country, “The government is taking the matter of religion very seriously now. Every day, they ask us how many people in our village believe in God. If we say there aren’t any believers, they claim that we’re concealing what we know and failing to report it. If it is determined that we didn’t report the situation truthfully, we will be punished.”
The three local officials eventually were reinstated.
This local official who spoke to Bitter Winter said Beijing fears the number of Christians is growing too fast and that believers may undercut the communist party’s message — or even overthrow the central government.
Beijing believes “measures must be taken, and the number of believers cannot be allowed to continue growing,” that’s according to the local official.
Followers of Buddhism and Taoism also are monitored.
The local government officials are ordered to report on the status of regular inspections of religious venues, photos of believers and their movements during religious holidays, and activities in closed down meeting venues.