JULY 8, 2014
Sophie Richardson
Peacefully holding aloft banners calling for an end to corruption. Peacefully protesting outside government buildings. Peacefully gathering to commemorate historical anniversaries. These efforts have in recent months led to activists in China being charged – and in some cases sentenced – for such “crimes” as “gathering a crowd to disrupt social order.”
Zhang Shaojie, a pastor in Henan province, was sentenced on July 4 to a shocking 12 years in prison on this charge and on a second charge of “fraud” after attending church meetings and assisting congregants to seek redress in disputes with local officials. The fact that his church was registered with local authorities, and that no aspect of his conduct presented during legal proceedings could remotely be construed as threatening public order, seems to have made no difference.
Interest in Christianity has surged across China in recent years. Official statistics suggest there are 23 million practitioners, while other surveys suggest there may be three times as many. But as that interest grows, authorities appear to be increasing their efforts to limit their religious activities.
Some of the strategies to limit Christians’ ability to practice their faith have been presented as land disputes, including the May 2014 razing of a massive church in Zhejiang province. But as reported by the New York Times, that demolition was the direct result of a provincial policy decision to limit Christians’ “excessive religious sites” and “overly popular” activities. Severe restrictions on the freedom of religion are already well-known to Tibetan Buddhists and Uighur Muslims.
