In the esteemed pages of the King James Version of the Bible, Exodus 20:3 pronounces, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” This biblical principle of prioritizing faith above all resonates deeply within both Judaism and Christianity. Yet, it stands in stark contrast to the dogma of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which, perhaps unsurprisingly, insists on its supremacy over all, including the populace, the constitution, and even God.
This ideological schism leads to a curious proclamation: religious freedom in China exists peripherally, only if one’s beliefs do not transgress the nebulous borders of a “national security threat,” as defined by the Party. In practice, this definition has become alarmingly expansive, transforming acts like attending private worship, reading uncensored scriptures, or permitting underage individuals to engage in faith practices into offenses against the state.
In the context of China’s lagging economy and the ongoing economic skirmishes with the United States, the CCP has ramped up its campaign of religious repression, tightening its ideological noose even further. On September 30, 2025, a consortium of human rights advocates and organizations gathered in Washington, D.C., for a pivotal conference titled Faith Under Siege: Confronting Religious Persecution and Oppression in China.
Coordinated by the International Republican Institute (IRI) alongside several partners, the event highlighted personal accounts from experts and survivors, illustrating the CCP’s systematic war on faith-based communities.
In a subsequent joint statement, the coalition condemned the CCP as a leader in global religious persecution, asserting that the regime weaponizes repression exclusively to safeguard its political power. The statement traced the lineage of religious suppression in China, from the ideological purges of Mao Zedong to the surveillance state engineered under Xi Jinping, eagerly targeting Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners, and others in their crusade against belief.
According to Open Doors International’s World Watch List 2025, China ranks 15th globally for Christian persecution, with a score of 78 out of 100. The report classifies China as an officially atheist state, where Communist doctrine reigns supreme and alternative belief systems are met with suppression.
In this bizarre marketplace of ideas, texts such as The Principles of Scientific Atheism are heralded across universities and Party institutions, promoting secular ideologies while simultaneously attempting to curtail any spiritual influence. With an estimated 96.7 million Christians residing within its borders, most citizens consider themselves either agnostic or adherents of philosophies like Confucianism, which the CCP happily claims to be “truly Chinese,” conveniently aligning with Communist ideals.
Here lies the irony: the CCP doubles as government and self-appointed custodian of its existence, shaping policies designed to ensure the regime’s continued survival. It studies the fall of other Communist regimes, viewing unregulated social organizations—particularly Christians—as potential flashpoints for instability.
Under Xi Jinping’s leadership, local authorities receive pressure and incentives to enforce anti-Christian policies. The recently enacted Ethnic Unity Law endows officials with sweeping powers to fortify ideological control in multiethnic areas, providing supposed legal grounds for forced conformity and the stifling of religious diversity.
In 2024, signs of an alarming uptick in anti-Christian sentiment were noted by Bitter Winter, an organization monitoring religious suppressions. The year saw the CCP aggressively expand its campaign against so-called xie jiao (“heterodox teachings”), targeting independent Christian house churches and Catholic dissidents alike, branding them as threats to state sovereignty.
Not all persecution is subtle, either. A remarkable surge in violent incidents marked the year, showcased by a raid on a house church in Xiaotun, Heilongjiang Province, on January 27, where over 200 congregants were detained. Legal outcomes also mirror the repression: in April, a court in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, sentenced a believer, Ban Yanhong, to five years for “illegal business operations” after she distributed Bibles at a loss. Another notable case involved Pastor Du Mingliang, who received a five-year sentence for “organizing illegal border crossing.”
On July 24, Elder Zhang Chunlei from Guiyang Ren’ai Reformed Church found himself handed a sentence of three and a half years for “inciting subversion of state power” and “fraud.” Open Doors reports at least 1,000 church closures or attacks during the reported timeframe, with figures widely regarded as conservative, given that many incidents escape documentation.
According to Bitter Winter, public security authorities executed over 56,000 anti-xie jiao operations in 2024, affecting more than 17 million citizens. An online campaign urging “Say No to Xie Jiao” coerced around 18 million internet users to denounce independent religious groups publicly. Nearly 12,000 Christians faced investigations, intimidation, or detention, while over 1,000 were sentenced or confined to reeducation camps.
In a grim tally, more than 2,000 house churches faced shutdown, and 500 were razed, including some accredited by the state-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement. The CCP has further enhanced its high-tech grip on society, erecting over 40,000 new surveillance cameras to monitor religious sites.
In this authoritarian landscape, the government increasingly leverages economic crimes—“fraud” and “illegal business operations”—to justify the arrests of pastors and community leaders, with 2023 alone witnessing the detention of at least 50 pastors and 15 receiving sentences exceeding five years.
Terms like torture, enforced disappearances, and asset confiscation depict an ever-evolving legal framework for persecution. House churches and underground congregations have become the only sanctuary for many Chinese Christians seeking uncensored Bibles or to engage young practitioners, while for Catholics, these alternatives ensure communion with the pope—an endeavor impossible through the state-run Patriotic Catholic Church.
In summary, the law prohibits worship at times other than designated ones or with unapproved texts. The result? Genuine religious freedom exists as a mere illusion in China. The Communist Party, grappling with its failure to deliver on the veiled pact of obedience for economic prosperity, seeks to divert citizens from turning to religion amidst their quest for meaning and hope.
