Christian citizens in China who receive social welfare payments have been ordered to renounce Christ and abandon their faith or risk losing government support.
The policy impacts low-income religious citizens who receive government assistance, according to Bitter Winter, a watchdog that monitors reports of persecution in China.
Christian citizens in China who receive social welfare payments have been ordered to abandon their faith or risk losing government support, according to a new report.
The policy impacts low-income religious citizens who receive government assistance, according to Bitter Winter, a watchdog that monitors reports of persecution in China.
Sometimes, there’s little warning.
A Christian elderly woman in her 80s lost her government assistance after she said “thank God” while receiving her subsidy in January. She lives in Jiangxi province.
“They expected me to praise the kindness of the Communist Party instead,” she said.
Government officials in Shangqiu city in the province of Henan cancelled the government assistance for an elderly woman in her 70s after they discovered a cross image on her door.
“They tore it down immediately,” the elderly Christian told Bitter Winter. “Afterward, both my minimum living allowance and poverty alleviation subsidy were canceled. I am being driven to a dead end. I have diabetes and need injections regularly.”
Said a neighbor, “This little money she received from the government was her bread and butter. But it has been canceled because of a cross image, causing great harm to this woman.”