by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Authorities in China once again raided the Zion Church in Beijing last month, arresting 12 people and taking down the details of everyone in attendance as part of a crackdown on Christianity in the country, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
China is ruled by the paranoid, authoritarian Chinese Communist Party which has banned Zion Church and other evangelical churches that refuse to register with the government and promote an anti-Christian ideology that glorifies the CCP and its leader. China currently ranks 19 on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.
The Beijing Zion Church was raided during services held at four separate locations on October 20, ICC reports. The church was banned in 2018 after it refused to install government-monitored CCTV cameras but continued to meet as a church in different places. Among those arrested on October 20 was Elder Qin Guoliang, who was given a 14-day detention sentence.
In a 2024 website report about the situation facing evangelical churches in China, the Open Doors international Christian advocacy organization states: “The Chinese Communist Party’s goal is to make sure churches don’t fall out of line with official viewpoints. In the case of official churches, this means they are encouraged to praise and pledge allegiance to the Communist Party and its ideology.”
Noting that persecution and discrimination against Christians is spreading across China, Open Doors adds: “Churches that claim Christ as King are viewed with suspicion, especially since Christianity is seen as a primarily Western influence. Most churches are monitored and can be shut down without warning.”
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Nigeria’s government rejected on Wednesday its designation by the United States as a “country of particular concern” over alleged religious freedom violations, saying the move was based on misinformation and faulty data — despite reports that Islamic fighters killed nine Christians and a pastor in the past week as part of a deadly campaign against Christians in the nation.
Officials say at least nine people were killed and more than a dozen injured after a United Parcel Service (UPS) cargo plane crashed and exploded shortly after takeoff from Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport in the U.S. state of Kentucky.
Canada’s Jewish community was in shock Wednesday after the Kehillat Shaarei Torah synagogue in Toronto was vandalized again — marking the tenth such attack in about 18 months.
The United States has reached new historic highs in energy production, setting records for both crude oil output and liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, according to fresh data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
Israeli forces eliminated two Hamas terrorists attempting to cross the Gaza ceasefire line on Wednesday — the fourth such violation in as many days along the IDF’s “Yellow Line.”
A driver deliberately rammed his vehicle into pedestrians and cyclists on France’s Île d’Oléron island off the Atlantic coast, wounding at least five people — two of them critically — before being arrested, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez confirmed Wednesday.
Moody Bible Institute has filed a federal lawsuit against the Chicago Board of Education, accusing the city’s public school system of religious discrimination for barring Moody students from participating in its student-teaching program.