Christian Sentiment in Zhejiang Against Cross Removal: Three Statements

By China Change, published: August 7, 2015

The ongoing forced demolition of crosses, and in some cases entire churches, taking place in Zhejiang is an extraordinary occurrence: the Chinese government appears determined to remove all traces of the symbol of Christianity in the public realm, with no regard to the antagonism it is provoking among at least two millions of Christians in one of China’s most prosperous provinces. All signs indicate that the attack on the cross is just the beginning of a plan to rein in the rapid-growing number of Christians across the country.

In response to the church demolition and cross removal, Bishop Zhu Weifang (朱维方) of the Wenzhou parish published a letter a year ago titled “Believe, and Fear Not – To All Priests and Catholics,” and the Catholic clergy (司铎团) also spoke against the actions of the government. Since the cross removal campaign escalated recently, there have been a flood of statements in protest, and warning. Here we sample three such statements to convey to our readers the feelings of Zhejiang Christians: they come from the government-sanctioned the Christian Council of Zhejiang Province (浙江省基督教协会), ordinary believers in Rui’an city (基督教瑞安市众教会), and the Catholic clergy of Wenzhou (天主教温州教区全体神职人员), respectively.

Open Letter to the Zhejiang Committee of Ethnic and Religious Affairs[1] Zhe Ji Zi (2015) No. 44 To: Zhejiang Committee on Ethnic and Religious Affairs In the nearly 18 months since the removal of the cross from the Huanghu Christian Church in Yuhang District, Hangzhou, more than 1,200 crosses have been torn down from places of religious activity in our province under the “Three Rectifications, One Demolition” campaign. (These include crosses belonging to fully permitted churches totally compliant with the regulations, such as the Dayuan Christian Church in Fuyang, the Xin’en Church in Yiwu, and the Panshi Church in Hangzhou.) Such a large-scale, targeted campaign of administrative law enforcement (without consideration of its violations of both substantive and procedural law), with its incidents of bloodshed, has seriously hurt the feelings of Zhejiang’s more than 2 million Christians. At the same time, it has also had an extremely serious negative impact on the masses in the areas surrounding the churches whose crosses have been torn down, leading relations between the Party and the masses to become negative and even confrontational. This goes completely against the ideology and spirit of Party and state policy regarding “governing the country in accordance with law” and “governing the country in accordance with the constitution,” causing an unprecedented degree of damage to the image of the Party and government at home and abroad. These actions are a flagrant violation of the policy of religious freedom that the Party and government have been implementing and continuously perfecting for more than 60 years and a serious violation of the constitution. As the organization representing our province’s Christian community, our council feels deeply saddened by these actions. Members of our council’s enlarged council-affairs conference (including chairmen, vice-chairmen, directors, and deputy directors) have unanimously decided via telephone conference to strongly urge the Zhejiang Committee on Ethnic and Religious Affairs to transmit this letter to the provincial Party committee and government and immediately order that the relevant authorities cease tearing down crosses. Party and state guiding policy regarding religious work is: “Protect, Serve, Manage, Lead.” Only the “management” function has recently been on display within our province, however, and this “management” has been so unreasonable and violent that it makes it impossible for our council to fulfil its role as a “bridge.” In view of this and considering that previous attempts by our officials to demand in person or by telephone that your committee cease all demolition, we now make this solemn appeal in writing: We hereby request that you observe the constitution and the law, consider the special and complex nature of religion, and immediately cease this mistaken policy of removing crosses that is tearing the Party and the masses apart. Yours faithfully, The Christian Council of Zhejiang Province July 10, 2015 Also submitted to: National Committee of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches in China, China Christian Council, United Front Work Department, State Administration of Religious Affairs, Zhejiang Province United Front Work Department cc: Regional Three-Self Patriotic Movement committees and Christian Councils

[1] After publishing the open letter, the government confiscated the Council’s official seal. – The Editors

Joint Statement from the Rui’an Christian Community Since February 2014, local enforcement agents have been illegally tearing down crosses from Christian churches in the name of “Three Rectifications, One Demolition.” In doing so, they have flagrantly violated the constitution, trampled on the dignity of the law, undermined social harmony, and infringed on citizens’ right to religious freedom. The situation is getting worse, repeatedly bullying good Christians and threatening to tear down the crosses from all churches in Rui’an. In order to defend the lawful rights and interests of all of our city’s believers and safeguard the dignity of national law, the entire Rui’an Christian community hereby issues the following solemn statement: The 203 Rui’an churches that have previously registered with the government are lawful places of religious activity, and these church buildings and the crosses on top of them are protected by law. We resolutely oppose any encroachment, damage, or destruction by any individual or work unit. If individuals or local authorities dare to risk universal condemnation and use force to tear down church crosses, we the churches of Rui’an will have to arm ourselves with the law and hire lawyers to defend our rights by filing suit against leading individuals and the work units who ordered the demolition, in order to safeguard the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of the religious people of our city. If local authorities ignore the lawful demands of our city’s religious people and oppose us with evil intentions, wasting money and manpower, and even illegally employing armed force to tear down the crosses from our churches, our churches will respond in a non-violent, non-cooperative manner. We shall absolutely refuse to accept this evil and shall never give in or cooperate. We shall never tear down our own crosses and shall refuse to undergo rectification. If local authorities do not obey the law and act in violation of the law, illegally tearing down church crosses through stealth attacks, or damaging church property, we shall re-erect the crosses. We shall remain in contact with churches in other counties and cities and communicate and look after each other. Churches that have had their crosses torn down will resolutely join together to petition the higher authorities. Christian Churches of Rui’an July 25, 2015

Cry Out! Be Silent No More! – An open letter by Catholic clergy from the Wenzhou Diocese to all Chinese Christians and citizens Last year the Zhejiang provincial government began a “Three Rectifications and One Demolition” campaign; over time, it got worse and worse, and now, its nature has changed entirely. At present, the campaign is a naked attempt to rip down the crosses atop every single church. Across our parish, we have been neither servile nor cowed—we have forborne, we have ardently prayed, we have communicated rationally, and we have calmly observed, all the while waiting for the dark clouds to pass. But certain people have not only not slowed down, but have become more aggressive, as though they were facing a mortal enemy in their targeting of a symbol of universal love—the Cross. They have defied the wishes of the masses and come up with the “Zhejiang Provincial Regulations on Religious Buildings” (《浙江省宗教建筑规范》), which fails even basic jurisprudence, cheating the people and recklessly attempting to carry out their campaign of tearing down every single cross. Not only this, but our peaceful petitions, as well as rallying the support of parishioners, have been treated as illegal conduct. It’s truly like the ancient Chinese saying: “The official is allowed to set fires, but the ordinary folk can’t light their lamps.” But “trap water in a stream and there will be a disastrous flood; shut up the voices of the public, and a worse disaster awaits.” Is it really the case that a government which says it serves the people is going to take the country back to what Liang Qichao (梁启超) decried as “a government that excels in nothing but repressing its own citizens?” The more they try to suppress the call for justice, they more they demonstrate the severity of the social crisis, the fragile confidence in their rule, and their inability to get to grips with the matter. If they want to strike out at the cross as a means of treating such an urgent disease, it will only plunge China—which, after making it through the Great Leap Forward and the disastrous Cultural Revolution, is only now finding peaceful development—into yet another calamity. As individuals with human rights granted by God, every single person has freedom of belief. In order to safeguard the cross, and to preserve our most basic right to believe, we will keep watch and defend one another, and we will mount a rational and reasonable resistance. As citizens of China, we yearn for comprehensive and deeper democracy and rule of law. As for those senior officials who force their subordinates to participate, issuing commands to make them carry out demolition work; and those who trample upon the constitution, who willfully defile the dignity of the law, who violate administrative procedure, who use their power to confuse the law, and who lead the way in undermining the rule of law, they must be resolutely exposed and resisted, and they must be brought to justice. As the sons and daughters of China, we all yearn for an environment of long-term peace and stability. We absolutely can’t go back to where “the ordinary people suffer whether in a period of prosperity or decline;” we must absolutely not allow anything to go against the tide of harmonious development. All Christians in China have all along carried a sense of mission with them, honoring the Lord and benefiting their fellow man. At the same time, we have longed for a fair and tolerant cultural, religious and social environment in which to adapt the Christian religion to Chinese culture. Zhejiang provincial authorities have been demolishing crosses with a vengeance. Is that your understanding of the sinification of religion recently called for by Chairman Xi Jinping? At a juncture where “the wind is sweeping through the tower heralding a rising storm in the mountains,” we will even more so take as our great responsibility the rejuvenation of the Chinese people, and we will more firmly believe that we too are the backbone and the blessing of the Chinese nation. Watching one cross after another being torn down, we have cried out in anger and shed tears in sorrow. But we will wisely and carefully use every method available to re-erect the crosses. When one cross is removed, one million crosses will be erected: in every person’s heart, along the avenues and in the alleyways, and in the home of every family. The Church has throughout its history grown and thrived under either persecution or the favor of the ruler. We earnestly beseech the Lord’s mercy, to grant us the courage to die for what is right, for the peace of the nation, for the true rise of the Chinese nation, to make whatever sacrifice is required. As it is written in The Bible (Amos 5:24): “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” For the freedom to believe, for the dignity of the law, for the continuous development of China, for the long term welfare of the Chinese people, all believers across the whole of China, those tens of millions filled with a sense of justice—be silent no more! Let us all cry out! The whole body of Christian clergy from the Wenzhou Diocese July 28, 2015

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Related:

Severe crackdown in China on church crosses draws backlash, AP, August 5, 2015.

Interview with a Wenzhou Pastor: The Chinese Government’s Large-Scale Destruction of Crosses in Zhejiang Province, Yaxue Cao, China Change, July 29, 2015.

Church-State Clash in China Coalesces Around a Toppled Spire, Ian Johnson, the New York Times, May 30, 2014.

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