China Treats Christianity As An Existential Threat To Totalitarianism

This week is significant for Christians worldwide, including myself, as we commemorate Jesus Christ’s death and sacrifice on Good Friday and celebrate his resurrection on Easter Sunday. However, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has announced new regulations that will severely restrict foreign missionaries in China starting May 1. Citing the need to combat “extremism” and protect national security, these measures threaten religious freedoms.

Under the new regulation, foreign missionaries must obtain government approval for lectures, sermons, and group activities, facing a burdensome application process that details the date, time, location, and attendees.

Additionally, the regulation includes a comprehensive set of restrictions that prohibit foreign missionaries from engaging in activities such as “Recruiting religious believers among Chinese citizens and appointing religious clergy,” “Organizing and carrying out religious education and training,” “accepting religious donations from Chinese organizations and citizens,” and producing, distributing, and selling religious materials. Violators of these restrictions may face criminal charges depending on the severity of the offense. According to Breitbart, this new regulation is designed to formally end foreign missionary activities in China.

The new regulation is the latest example of the CCP’s deep-seated animosity toward all religions, especially Christianity. Between the 1980s and early 2000s, China’s Christian population surged significantly, with estimates in 2018 indicating it may range from 100 to 200 million — outnumbering the nearly 100 million members of the CCP itself. The CCP, an atheist organization, is alarmed by the rapid growth of Christians. One of the CCP’s worst fears is that the devotion to God could erode loyalty to the party and thus threaten its very legitimacy. As a result, the CCP sees Christianity as an existential threat.

Since assuming leadership of the CCP in 2013, Xi Jinping has implemented a three-pronged strategy against all religions, particularly Christianity. This strategy involves the sinicization of religion, which entails aligning religion with Chinese culture and communism, and ensuring loyalty to the CCP. It also includes the ruthless persecution of religious believers who refuse to conform to the sinicization of religion and instead remain steadfast in their actual religious beliefs and practices. The third leg of this strategy is using laws and regulations to curb the future growth and expansion of religion.

A well-known instance of the sinicization of Christianity is the CCP’s insistence on selecting Catholic bishops. This practice clearly violates the Catholic Church’s principle that only the pope has the authority to appoint bishops. Other examples of Sinicization include authorities’ instruction that both Catholic and Protestant congregations must prioritize patriotism over religion. In some impoverished areas, local officials compelled villagers to replace posters of Jesus with portraits of Xi Jinping and Chairman Mao, despite Mao in particular being responsible for the worst mass murders in human history. Additionally, the CCP reportedly has plans to “retranslate and annotate the Bible to align with socialism and establish a correct understanding of the text.”

The CCP has launched a brutal crackdown on “house churches,” even though China’s constitution supposedly guarantees citizens the right to “freedom of religious beliefs.” The website of China Aid, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting for religious freedom, is filled with stories of religious persecution under the Communist regime.

For instance, local police in Suizhou City, Hubei Province, arrested 28 Christians from a house church on charges of “using a cult organization to undermine the implementation of the law.” The CCP always uses “cult” to refer to any religious group that isn’t aligned with the party.  In Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, nine Christians who provided Bibles to low-income individuals in China were jailed in 2021 for conducting “illegal business operations.” After enduring four years of imprisonment, these Christians were due for trial and sentencing last month, yet the local court postponed the proceedings while keeping them unlawfully detained.

Chinese authorities are not even bothering to hide their religious repression. The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) disclosed early this year that it has “intensified efforts to dismantle cult organizations,” and targeted institutions “conducting illegal training under the guise of ‘spiritual cultivation’” in 2024. This crackdown has resulted in the prosecution of 269 individuals and the seizure of over 217 million yuan (about $29.75 million) last year. It’s no wonder the 2025 report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) labels China as one of the worst violators of religious freedom globally.

Furthermore, under Xi Jinping’s leadership, the Chinese government has aggressively employed new laws and regulations to stifle the spread and development of religion in China. A law that took effect in 2018 prohibits anyone under 18 from entering religious sites, receiving religious education, or identifying as a religious believer. The CCP claims this is necessary to protect young minds from what it views as the dangers of religion, asserting that it seeks to “help them establish a correct worldview, outlook on life, and system of values to foster a healthy mindset.” This draconian enforcement has led to the closure of Sunday schools and youth summer camps, as well as legal threats directed at Sunday school teachers, church leaders, and parents.

Unfortunately, these measures have effectively impeded religious growth in China. A 2023 Pew Research report shows that China’s Christian population has stalled after decades of rapid increase. The CCP’s most recent restrictions on foreign missionaries aim to further diminish Christianity’s presence in China, impacting countless individuals seeking faith.

The timing of this regulation’s announcement is particularly alarming. The CCP revealed it during a heated trade war with the U.S. and just weeks before it took effect, seemingly hoping that the world would remain oblivious or slow to react.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping claimed on the global stage his commitment to upholding universal human values such as justice, democracy, and freedom. However, his actions repeatedly reveal his authoritarian tendencies. The Trump administration should keep Xi’s true nature in mind as it prepares an eventual negotiation with China on a variety of issues including trade and cybersecurity. Meanwhile, let’s pray for all religious believers’ safety and God’s victory in China.