The Chinese government is engaging in a three-phase campaign to eradicate Protestant house churches, according to the China Aid Association.
According to the ChinaAid information from an unnamed source, the government's strategy was clearly outlined in a document released during a training class last September for "Patriots in the Christian Community" conducted by the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA).
The ChinaAid information was circulated in a Compass Direct News report in late April. The existence of an elevated government crackdown on house churches also has been verified by Baptist Press.
The Chinese government's strategy document calls for local authorities, in phase one, to conduct a thorough investigation of house churches nationwide from January through June of this year and create dossiers on each of them.
In phase two for the following two to three years, authorities would strongly encourage unregistered churches to affiliate with the government-approved Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM).
In phase three, to be completed within 10 years, churches refusing to comply would be shut down, according to the ChinaAid information.
Officials also would ban the words "house church" and all reports on house churches from websites and other media and replace the term with "house gatherings" -- a term that would refer to groups meeting in sites affiliated with the TSPM. Read more
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