Leader of official Protestants claims Christianity wants to subvert China
Xu Xiaohong, president of the National Commission of the Three Self Patriotic Movement speaks at the Political Consultative Conference: "Many believers lack a true national conscience. That's why we say 'one more Christian, one less Chinese'. We fight foreign infiltration".
Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Christianity in China "must face its sinization with greater commitment, according to the dictates of President Xi Jinping, and must fight against foreign influences that want to subvert the state through faith".
This was stated by Xu Xiaohong, president of the National Commission of the Three Self Patriotic Movement, during a session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPCPC). The Movement is the administrative body - created by Mao Zedong – of an umbrella group for the official Protestant Christians.
Instead, the CPPCC brings together all representatives of civil society (including religious ones) to offer advice to the NPC and the Party on how to improve its policies, but in reality it tends to subject civil society to Party decisions.
The synicization referred to by Xu is the campaign launched by the supreme Chinese leader against the five official religions of the country (Protestant Christianity, Catholicism, Islam, Taoism and Buddhism). According to Xi Jinping, these faiths could become instruments of ethnic separatism or foreign interference in the internal affairs of the country.
In recent times, added the official Protestant leader, "In modern times, Christianity was spread widely to China along with the colonial invasion of Western powers, and was therefore called a ‘foreign religion’. It must be said that some faithful lack a true national conscience. That's why we say 'another Christian, one less Chinese'. Among the heaviest problems we have to face are the infiltration of foreign forces and illegal prayer meetings".
Shen Bin, vice president of the Patriotic Association of Chinese Catholics, also attended the political conference meetings. According to the official, "Catholicism has faced ups and downs in the country due to some local churches, which have failed to implement the principles of independence and self-management and have not integrated with Chinese culture".
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