Beijing: Foreign teachers must not evangelize
The new set of rules for foreign teachers aims above all to curb the evangelization of Protestants who, engaged in language or literature courses, or culture, spark the interest of young Chinese in religion. In Hainan, public security pays a "bounty" of 100,000 yuan (about 12,387 euros) for anyone who reveals or gives indications that lead to the arrest of foreigners "engaged in religious activities without permission". Chinese youth are very interested in Christianity.
Beijing (AsiaNews) - According to various foreign personalities who teach in China, Beijing is preparing a series of regulations that curb or eliminate the possibility for such teachers to evangelize or refer to any religion.
For the SCMP, the regulations will be implemented "soon". Meanwhile, in the province of Hainan, public security is willing to pay a "bounty" of 100 thousand yuan (about 12,387 euros) for anyone who reveals or gives indications that lead to the arrest of foreigners "engaged in religious activities without permission".
Religious activities without permission - which include evangelization, teaching catechism, contact between local communities and abroad - are already banned under the new regulations. This latest set of rules for foreign teachers aims above all to curb the evangelization of Protestants who, engaged in language or literature courses, or indeed culture, spark the interest of young Chinese in religion.
The Chinese Communist Party appears increasingly frustrated by the interest shown by the country’s youth in religions and Christianity in particular. According to a statistic from a few years ago, more than 60% of Chinese university students in Beijing and Shanghai are eager to learn about Christianity.
In an attempt to isolate young people within a nationalist culture, for years the Party has been erasing any reference to Western culture (considered a Trojan horse of Christianity) and banning students from participating in Christmas celebrations.
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