Underground Churches In China Dig In Despite Harassment, by Michael Sainsbury, UCA News
"The powerful propaganda department of China's Communist Party last week handed Beijing's prominent underground churches a testing Easter present, banning any reporting about the Protestant Shouwang Church's outdoor services.
"While Shouwang has been a target of the government for many years, the latest move against underground churches is part of a broader crackdown on dissent since the regime of leader Xi Jinping came to power in late 2012. The new government is targeting any organization perceived as a threat to Chinese Communist Party policy.
"'There are thousands of family churches in Beijing, with congregations ranging from several members to thousands," said Xu Yonghai, a Christian activist in Beijing."
"Xu told ucanews.com that members of unregistered Christian churches often shun the state-supported Church, whose members often aided Chinese authorities in crackdowns of "rival underground churches since the 1950s."
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