As the Chinese Communist Party celebrates its 100th anniversary, religious freedom advocate and founder of ChinaAid Bob Fu asks what accomplishments from the previous century are the CCP commemorating. He wrote in an article,
"The party has successfully risen to power, but its efforts to maintain that power over its more than 70 years of rule have caused immense suffering for the Chinese people, especially those inclined to think independently or worship a higher authority than the CCP."
Fu said that under CCP control, China is committing more religious persecution than other nations including persecution of "Christians, Uyghur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, and Falun Gong practitioners." He also pointed out the number of Uyghurs held in internment camps in Xinjiang, which is, as of 2020, is estimated to be between 1 million and 3 million people.
Aside from those who are members of any religious belief, Fu contends that the citizens were also not better off. Under the communist government's family planning programs, he said that millions of unborn infants were forcibly killed. Due to the CCP's politically motivated campaigns, massive numbers of Chinese citizens were also reportedly killed or left to die of starvation.
"The CCP has proven that it can accomplish a great deal, but often at the expense of its people," he continued. "Today's CCP is unfortunately not all that different from what it was 100 years ago."
The Anti-Christian Campaign
Soon after the party was formed, a nationwide movement against Christianity arose and is now known as the Anti-Christian Movement of 1922-1927. Based on Fu's account, the party had discovered an opportunity by exploiting Chinese patriotism, and declared: "one more Christian in China, one less Chinese."
A century has passed, but the party still fears the rise of Christianity, so they turned churches into outlets of conformism who must submit to the demands of the party.
Religion has now become one of the tools used to promote the Party's beliefs under Xi Jinping's leadership. This time, the approach is termed "Sinicization" which means making Christian theology and practice fit with communist ideology. E-book retailers were pressured to delete Bible apps from their catalogs, minors were kept away from churches, and there's an official state-sponsored persecution of "house churches."
In lieu of all of these, citizens were urged to demonstrate "religious devotion" to the party in commemoration of its centennial, says Fu.
"Former revolutionary bases" have been referred to as "holy sites" by the state media, a kind of proselytism that has clearly been the motivation behind calls for citizens to visit these places and pay their respects. Pictures of Jesus were also removed from Chinese churches, and Xi's portraits were put in their stead.
What is more heartbreaking is what Fu reported about some church choirs singing in support of the Communist Party and dancing around church pulpits with flags indicating their support for the party's claims.
The chant goes, "the grace of the Party is deeper than the sea" and "listen to Party's words, follow Party's path."
A call for free countries to intervene
"The party has demonstrated its staying power, and now the free countries of the world must decide how they will interact with a single-party authoritarian government that is increasingly powerful on the world stage," said Fu.
Fu appeals to the free world, including countries that respect "religious freedom, human rights, the rule of law, and democracy," to come together for one cause. He contends that the CCP fails to uphold these principles and must therefore be condemned and stopped.
He concluded by stating that the Chinese people had already been suffering under a political party whose sole goal was to serve itself for almost a century.
