While the charge of inciting to subvert state power represent Mr. Wang’s political views, the illegal business operations highlight a more widespread and troubling problem for the government: Early Rain and hundreds of other unregistered churches across China are no longer just small, underground gatherings of believers in people’s homes, but are large, sophisticated organizations.
At its peak in (************************************************************, Early Rain had more than 500 members, a seminary that trained clergy from across China, a kindergarten and elementary school, and a bookstore – none of which were registered with the government.
Mr. Wang’s arrest is part of a broader effort to subdue all social organizations that operate independently of the government.
In (***************************************************************, the government passed a lawsharply curtailing the rights of nongovernmental organizations . That same year itenacted new regulationson religious life. In both cases, groups were ordered to register with the government and cut all foreign ties.
Around the same time, the government began a policy of detaining more than a million Muslims in what it calls re-education camps.
Compared to the country 20 million Muslims, most of whom are ethnic minorities, Protestant Christianity is practiced by 90 million ethnic Chinese, who are often white-collar professionals living in the country’s heartland.
The vast majority of China’s independent churches have been untouched by the recent crackdown, but rig said the attack on high-profile churches is a signal to others to reduce their size and avoid politics. In addition to closing Early Rain the government last year shuttered Zion Churchin Beijing and Rongguili in Guangzhou.
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