The following explosive statements were taken from an interview with a
high-ranking official responsible for observing religious activity in China. He
is a confessing Christian consciously working in atheistic surroundings. The
interview was only granted under the condition of strict anonymity. The author
is a respected authority on the development of Christianity and the current
attitude of the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party to Christian churches.
The interview was led by Compass Direct, a part of "Open Doors", which
published the statements mainly because many of the 'third wave' house-church
leaders agree with the estimates and the insight that it provides into the
attitude of high-ranking government officials to Christianity. (The 'third
wave' is the name given to the house-churches started since the Tiananmen
Square massacre in 1989.) We quote only the Chinese official's own words:
Discrimination, not true persecution
I distinguish between persecution and discrimination in China. There is very
little true persecution, but massive discrimination. Discrimination happens
almost automatically when confessing Christians live in a country in which
members of the Communist and hence officially atheist party are in almost
complete control. That is discrimination. The Chinese government made a stupid
mistake in equating Christianity with public services. They believe that if
people can meet in the church, then they must be free. They fail to understand
that Christianity is a lifestyle. That is the source of the discrimination. In
the past, millions were persecuted in China; the current situation is an
enormous improvement. In comparison with China's enormous population, there is
very little true persecution in the sense of imprisonment and beatings of
Christians. In addition, most are soon released. In 9 out of 10 cases involving
Christians, the imprisonment was a result of real offences such as extremely
naive political statements. The West may have long refused to believe this, but
China also has its share of dangerous sects.
Mao's ideology is outdated
China is adopting capitalism and opening itself to the West. Mao's ideology,
the power behind past persecution, is outdated. Members of the Chinese
government are very uncertain, not only in regard to Christianity, and
uncertain politicians are restrictive. Basically, every unofficial group could
be dangerous. That is the real reason for the house churches' current sensitive
situation. A leading Party member once asked me "Where did Christianity flee
to, when we tried to destroy it?" "Into the hearts of the people, where it
always was," I answered.
Party officials are more open for friendships than ever before
The West can do something very important in our situation: help the government
in how to deal with religion. Party members are more open than ever before. The
key to influence is to make friends, not to look down your nose. I believe that
much of the West's criticism is based on hate. Some Christian leaders simply
hate the Communists, and hence the Chinese church can only be 'persecuted'. Let
me give you some advice: continue to state the case for persecuted Christians,
but remember that there are no old-style Communists any more, only Party
members. Take the ideological sharpness out of your crusades, because that
style is simply no longer appropriate. Mao no longer has China's strings in his
hand, and if you realise that, you could have more influence than you dare to
dream.
Come to China. But most importantly, when you come, come as a friend.
Source: Compass Direct, via email: Religious-Liberty@xc.org
China: Christians could have more influence than they dare to dream
