China is Advancing Sinicization of Religious Expression, USIRF Warns

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has warned that China’s ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is seeking to elevate China over God through its ongoing policy of Sinicization, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Sinicization aims to impose Chinese nationalism on religious expression and institutions.

In a report published the USCIRF warns: “Sinicization, or the complete subordination of religious groups to the CCP’s political agenda and Marxist vision for religion, has become the core driving principle of the government’s management of religious affairs.”

“They also forcibly eradicate religious elements considered contradictory to the CCP’s political and policy agenda with ultranationalist overtones,” the USCIRF report continues. “Government officials have installed CCP loyalists as leading religious figures, altered houses of worship with CCP-approved architecture, integrated CCP propaganda into religious doctrines, and otherwise criminalized non-CCP-backed religious activities, all to ensure the stability of CCP rule.”

With the CCP advancing an oppressive program of Sinicization of religious expression, China ranks 19 on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.

“The Chinese Communist Party’s goal is to make sure churches don’t fall out of line with official viewpoints”, the Open Doors international Christian advocacy organization explains in a 2024 website statement. “In the case of official churches, this means they are encouraged to praise and pledge allegiance to the Communist Party and its ideology. Churches that claim Christ as King are viewed with suspicion, especially since Christianity is seen as a primarily Western influence.”

Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.

Latest Stories from Worthy News

Nigeria: Christians Gather For Prayer, Support Amid Ongoing Slaughter and Abductions
Nigeria: Christians Gather For Prayer, Support Amid Ongoing Slaughter and Abductions
Thursday, November 28, 2024

As Islamic jihadists continue a relentless campaign of murder, abductions, and displacement against Christians in northern Nigeria, communities of local believers are joining together to pray and to support one another, including with finances to pay extortionate ransoms for kidnapped loved ones, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

India: Christians Banned From Eight Villages in Chhattisgarh State
India: Christians Banned From Eight Villages in Chhattisgarh State
Thursday, November 28, 2024

As part of an intensifying intolerance of Christianity in India, eight village councils in the Sukma District of India’s Chhattisgarh State passed a joint resolution earlier this month to ban Christians from staying in their communities, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reports.

US House Passes Bipartisan Bill to Promote Human Rights in North Korea
US House Passes Bipartisan Bill to Promote Human Rights in North Korea
Thursday, November 28, 2024

The US House of Representatives on November 20 passed a bipartisan bill to update and reauthorize the 2004 North Korean Human Rights Act, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. With the Act having expired in 2022, US Reps. Young Kim (R-CA) and Ami Bera (D-CA) introduced the bill to renew the legislation.

Trump Calls Talk with Mexico’s New Leader ‘Productive’ on Drugs and Border Issues
Trump Calls Talk with Mexico’s New Leader ‘Productive’ on Drugs and Border Issues
Wednesday, November 27, 2024

President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday night that he had a “productive conversation” with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo about combating the illegal flow of fentanyl into the United States and addressing illegal immigration. Trump added that Mexico had agreed to take immediate action to prevent illegal immigrants from reaching the southern border.

FBI Investigating Bomb Threats Against Trump Cabinet Nominees
FBI Investigating Bomb Threats Against Trump Cabinet Nominees
Wednesday, November 27, 2024

The FBI announced Wednesday that it is investigating bomb threats and “swatting” incidents, as well as other threats, targeting several of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees and administration appointees.