Back in northwest China, police raided a meeting in Akesu City, Xinjiang on April 19 and arrested 30 Chinese house church leaders along with four U.S. Christians and their translator, Jinhong Li from Beijing. CAA reported that eight Chinese pastors were released on April 20, but at least six others were detained for 30 days and accused of being involved in “evil cult activities.”

Police also raided a house church meeting in Kunshan, Jiangsu province on April 29, declaring the meeting an “illegal assembly” and confiscating a notebook computer, data projector and other equipment. House church members Cui Chengnan and Liu Riguo filed a protest application, claiming the charge of holding an “illegal assembly” was a violation of the state’s policies on religion.

Police have carried out multiple raids and arrests in several other provinces in recent months. As recently as June 29, two house church leaders were accused of “using an evil cult to obstruct the law” and sentenced to one year of re-education through labor in Jining City, Shandong province, CAA reported.

CAA also recorded at least 600 arrests throughout China in 2006.

Shortage of Bibles

At the same time, believers across China are reporting a shortage of Bibles and other Christian resources.

The China Christian Council (CCC) claims that Amity Press, the only legal publisher of Bibles in China, is producing enough Bibles to meet the demand. The Council, however, puts the total number of Protestant believers in China at only 16 million – including only the members of government-approved churches – whereas a survey carried out by the East China Normal University in 2005 and 2006, published in February, stated that China had 40 million Protestants.

The survey listed the total number of religious adherents at 300 million, more than triple the official government figure of 100 million.

Other China observers estimate the number of Protestant Christians is at least 60 million, and some estimates of total Christians – including now the Chinese government’s own internal research – rise to 130 million.

Amity Press has printed a little over 40 million Bibles since it was founded in 1987, but a significant percentage of those Bibles were for export outside China. In addition, many Bibles have been confiscated, burned, or worn out due to overuse; in some areas, house church members still take turns reading the only available copy of Scripture.

In March, Compass spoke with several house church leaders in Kunming who reported an acute lack of Bibles – in a city where Bibles previously were readily available from TSPM churches. Bibles also have been deliberately withheld from house church pastors; one such pastor told Compass he was refused Bibles when he approached a TSPM church. The same pastor reported multiple visits from police in the first quarter of the year, asking him to register his church through the TSPM.

Both house church and TSPM pastors reported a shortage of Bibles and other Christian materials in the northwest, the northeast, Beijing, and the southwest. Church growth in tribal areas also has created an urgent need for Bibles in minority languages.

Ironically, Anthony Liu Bainian, vice-chairman of the CPA, suggested in March that 20,000 English Bibles should be put in hotel rooms during the Beijing Olympics to “clear up foreigners’ misconceptions about religion in China.”

Olympic Headache

As preparations continue for the 2008 Olympics, critics around the world are calling China to account for ongoing human rights abuses – including religious freedom abuses.

In its 2006 annual report on international religious freedom, the U.S. State Department said China had failed to live up to promises to respect citizens’ faith, persecuting Christians, Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists who refused to accept official controls.

When the report was released, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the report was a “continuation of groundless accusations of China’s policies on religion and ethnic minorities.”

China observers will be watching closely for “grounds” for these accusations as the Olympics approach.

Copyright 2007 Compass Direct News. Compass Direct Flash News is distributed as available to raise awareness of Christians worldwide who are persecuted for their faith.