What's happening to Christians in China?

Christian Century, Sept 24, 1997 by Ann Martin, Myrrl Byler

Though we believe that even the "high" estimate of 13.3 million is low, we have seen no substantiation of the claim that China's Protestant Christian population is tens of millions above the CCC's estimates or that the majority of Christians live in constant fear of persecution wanting nothing to do with the CCC and TSPM. We have seen no evidence that the groups offering these dramatically higher estimates have the grass-roots networks needed to gather such data on a nationwide, annual basis.

An August Reader's Digest article titled "The Global War on Christians" claims that "many of China's estimated 40 million Christians still worship in fear. They rise on Sunday at 3 a.m. to make their way to secret worship centers in the homes of evangelists. Police roam the countryside seeking out these `house churches.'"

Statements like this strike us as either a careless or intentionally misleading blend of truth and fiction about rural Chinese Christians. First, the Reader's Digest writer should acknowledge a source for his estimate of 40 million. And since the rest of the article focuses on the plight of "many" of these 40 million, he should clarify what "many" means. The unsubstantiated figure of 40 million followed by the vague reference to "many" leaves readers to draw their own conclusions as to whether the journalists is describing conditions that affect 5 million or 35 million Christians. We know of rural Christians who routinely rise before dawn to walk for miles to join other worshipers in their homes and other nontraditional settings, including caves. Those we know about to do so openly and with the full knowledge of local authorities. We do not believe that such Christians are a tiny, statistically meaningless slice.

If the CCC attempts to include in its annual statistics Christians with whom it has no contact, has it clarified what proportion of the whole this group represents? Unfortunately, it has not done so on a nationwide basis. In 1994, however, the CCC estimated that in Zhejiang, the province it believes has the largest percentage of Christians in China, 10 to 15 percent of the Christians oppose Three Self. In other places, the CCC estimated, the percentage could be 25 percent or higher. Even if 25 percent of all the Christians included in the CCC's August count were said to be opposed to Three Self, that would total between 2.3 million and 3.3 million people.

Who are the Christians who choose not to attend Three-Self churches or meeting points for reasons other than that they would have to travel too fat to do so? We and other CEE teachers have met such Christians, and their reasons are varied. Some are intellectual who believe they will not fit in; others have grievances from the past involving a current church leader. Still others have theological reasons for distincing themselves from these organizations -- their distinctives may not mesh well with the CCC's postdenominational" identity, for example.

In our visits to former Mennonite churches and meeting points in rural Shandong and Henan provinces, where some say opposition to Three-Self groups is strongest, we see little evidence of such opposition. It seems in inconceivable to us, therefore, that there is an nationwide coverup designed to mislead the outside world on the true size or nature of the church. We have conclude that CCC leaders are speaking truthfully when they state that the number of Christians in China who oppose in the Three Self is relatively small, that the CCC wishes to provide Bibles, hymnals and opportunities for theological training to these groups, and that reconciliation with them is a major goal. In February 1994 Bishop K.H. Ting, then president of the CCC, said, "From the viewpoint of faith they are our brothers and sisters in Christ with whom we must seek to be reconciled. We must strive to serve them, to protect them ant to unite with them. They are people whom the government should tolerate, protect and recognize."