Churches forced to close when the chinese regime is stepping up control

At the weekend stormed the 60 police officers a bible school for the children in Guangzhou, a province in southern China. The school was held in a church which was founded in 1978 and is the centre for christians in south China. During the raid, confiscated the possessions of the church, among other things, was over 4,000 books, according to the South China Morningpost.

Just a day earlier was arrested a famous chinese priest, Wang Yi, in Chengdu on charges of inciting ”subversion of state power”. Wang Yi, who is known for his frispråkighet, is now facing 15 years in prison. At the same time with him was arrested the other 100 members of his congregation, called the early rain.

are two of several examples of a clampdown on christians and other religious groups in China at a later time. According to China Aid, an american christian organization, has over 10,000 christians have been arrested in the year. There is a clear increase from around 3,000 the year before.

at the same time, China has received sharp criticism for its treatment of the muslim uighurs in the province of Xinjiang. At least one million are estimated to have been in the re-education camps which, according to reports from human rights groups is pure labour camps where the exercise of religion. China defends himself with that the camps are a way to combat extremism and terrorism.

China is officially an atheistic country, but the practice of religion is legal, so long as it is done according to the chinese communist party's laws, regulations and rules. This has led to several religious communities have chosen not to register and conduct their activities underground, in an attempt to get away from the authorities ' harsh monitoring. But after a lagskärpning that gives regional authorities greater power to take action against the churches as a call to the non - ”approved collections” has the underground communities finding it increasingly difficult to operate.

increased control over the christians in their quest to ensure that religious groups supporting the government and the communist party, writes Human Rights Watch in a protest against pastor Wang Yi arrested.

According to Human Rights Watch, authorities have this year destroyed hundreds of christian churches and crosses, avhyst church, confiscated bibles and installed surveillance cameras in the churches that are still allowed. In april banned the sale of bibles online and in the september shut down the church of Zion, one of the largest protestant underground churches in Beijing.

Wang Yi has previously had his eyes on. He has criticised Xi Jinping and gone to the attack against the crackdown against churches. He is widely known is apprehended is seen as a clear escalation in the quest to control society. Wang Yi has been named one of the 50 most important intellectuals in China.

Christianity is one of the fastest growing religions in China. Exactly how many who profess the christian faith is unclear; data vary between 60 and 100 million. Many have their operations in private homes in order to escape state control.