{"id":34154,"date":"2019-06-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-20T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/csw-yeo.1wp.site\/blog\/china-lilis-story-3401\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T22:07:43","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T21:07:43","slug":"china-lilis-story-3401","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/blog\/china-lilis-story-3401\/","title":{"rendered":"China: Lili\u2019s Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Religious groups in China are currently experiencing what has been referred to as the\u00a0most severe crackdown on freedom of religion or belief since the Cultural Revolution<\/a>. This is a composite account constructed from real stories of Christians in China. Similar things have happened, but we have changed the details.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday it finally happened. As soon as I entered the lecture hall and sat down, I could feel the professor\u2019s eyes on me. After class started she didn\u2019t give me a second glance, but even so, when she called my name and told me to stay behind afterwards, I wasn\u2019t surprised. I guess I\u2019ve been expecting this for a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI need to talk to you about your Bible study group\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actually, it\u2019s more like a discussion group. We read a passage from the Bible, and then we talk about its meaning and what we think it means for our own lives. Sometimes we talk about social issues as well, it just comes naturally. But there would be no point explaining all this to my professor. It would only make things worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

She\u2019s more nervous than angry, I can see. She\u2019s under pressure too. I heard that for about a year now, colleges and schools have been instructing teachers to check up on their students\u2019 religious beliefs. They\u2019re being held responsible for any religious activities in the college, and have to report back on their \u2018performance\u2019 \u2013 i.e. what they\u2019ve done to stop it.<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

My professor ends by telling me to pause the Bible study meetings, and close down our group chat for a while. It\u2019s an instruction, not a request, but nevertheless there\u2019s a note of pleading in her voice. She knows this is all ridiculous: a few years ago, she was encouraging us to think for ourselves and discuss our own ideas about society. Now, she just sticks to the textbook. She has to protect herself, and perhaps she\u2019s trying to protect me too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I agree to stop the meetings and close the chat group, but I hope it\u2019s only temporary. When I tell the other group members, a couple of them have already received the same message from their professors, and one was actually threatened with suspension if we were caught reading the Bible on campus. We decide to meet at Dawei\u2019s house. His parents are both Christian so they won\u2019t mind. We agree not to talk about the group outside our small circle of friends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Things are changing fast and who knows what it will be like in a few years?<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLast Friday we met at Dawei\u2019s house. It was a really good time! Dawei\u2019s father is a pastor and he joined our group and then shared his own ideas about the Bible passage. He even talked about the social problems in China today and how we needed to rebuild social trust and a sense of citizenship. A lot of what he said made sense. I didn\u2019t understand all of it \u2013 after all, we\u2019re different generations so we\u2019re bound to think differently. A couple of times he mentioned something that happened in the late 80s in Beijing and a few other places, but I didn\u2019t really understand, and Dawei\u2019s mum told him to be quiet. But overall it was a great meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end, though, another member of our group, Fei Fei, told us her parents were pressuring her to join the Party. They are both Party members and they have some good connections. They\u2019ve been pushing Fei Fei to join for a while, so she gets the best job opportunities after graduation. But we all know why Fei Fei is hesitating. Party members aren\u2019t allowed to follow any religion. Before, it was possible to be a Party member and a Christian, and the Party just turned a blind eye. Actually there were quite a few people like that. But things are changing fast and who knows what it will be like in a few years? I think Fei Fei is right to be careful, but that means going against her parents\u2019 wishes\u2026 There are no easy answers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can\u2019t believe it\u2026 Something terrible has happened\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This morning I got a message from Dawei asking me to meet him at the playing field. The moment I saw his face, I knew something was very wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy Dad\u2019s been arrested,\u201d he said. I couldn\u2019t take it in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It turned out Dawei\u2019s dad\u2019s church has been shut down by the authorities. I always knew it was a house church \u2013 so technically illegal \u2013 but I\u2019ve never really thought of it like that. It\u2019s just The Mountaintop Church, another house church, mostly made up of young office workers and some teachers and doctors. There\u2019s even a few government workers. They don\u2019t stage big rallies or anything like that, they just hold meetings and run a few charity groups, helping poor people who need medical care, that sort of thing. The church has been around for years, since I was a little girl\u2026 Why would they be shut down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It gets worse, though. Dawei\u2019s father and the church\u2019s other pastor and accountant have all been arrested. Dawei doesn\u2019t know the charge yet, but the police took all the Christian books from their apartment and warned them not to put anything online or talk to the international media. Dawei\u2019s mum has found a good lawyer, one who\u2019s defended churches in the past, but someone warned his boss that he\u2019ll lose his lawyers\u2019 license if he takes this case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is just crazy \u2013 it\u2019s the kind of thing you hear about happening in Henan<\/a> and Xinjiang<\/a> but not here! Not in our city. Everything is changing\u2026 What\u2019s going to happen next?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I could see Dawei was scared but also angry and determined, and I\u2019m starting to feel the same way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It feels like the walls are closing around us. But if that\u2019s true, surely now is the time to push back? The question is, how?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

By CSW\u2019s China Researcher<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here<\/a> to stand up and speak out for those currently facing China\u2019s crackdown on religion.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
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