Millions of Christians in China practice their religion in secret to avoid persecution by the Communist Party. The BBC’s James Reynolds reports from Beijing on underground churches.
Underground Christians make the Chinese Communist Party nervous. There are millions of them in this country. They worship wherever they can – often in private homes. They do not want to be controlled by Beijing, so they refuse to sign up to the state-sanctioned church.
Reynolds also goes to Nanjing to visit a Bible printing factory.
China has its own thriving bible makers – the Amity Printing Company. Every day the firm prints off around 9,000 bibles. But the factory is only allowed to supply bibles to the official state-approved church – not to the underground church.
State control over the distribution of Bibles lead to a rumor last November that China would prohibit athletes from bringing Bibles to the 2008 Olympic games. China’s foreign ministry spokesman, Liu Jianchao, refuted the rumor after U.S. Representative Thaddeus McCotter gave a speech condemning the Bible ban. The Christian Post reports that the actual policy permits visitors to bring a Bible, but not more than one.
