POLICE in Beijing cancelled a gathering of Christian activists on Christmas Eve, preventing two from leaving their homes and forcing the owner of the venue not to rent the place out, activists have said.
Hua Huiqi, a Christian dissident, said he and others planned to have a party Friday night at a restaurant in Beijing's Sanyuanqiao district to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
“The police did not allow Qi Zhiyong and Zhang Qianjin to leave their homes. They also forced the landlord not to let us use the place, so the activity was canceled,” Hua said.
Qi and another Christian confirmed the incident.
“Last night, police refused to let me go out,” Qi said from his home Saturday.
The Christians and many others like them in China prefer to worship outside the government-controlled state-sanctioned or “patriotic” churches and each year try to organise worship activities on their own, often clandestinely.
Those who are especially active and considered sensitive figures have faced crackdowns every year around this time.
“These days, we try to go to the streets to send the Gospel to people. There were around 1000 Gospel leaflets that we have distributed, but the police did not allow me to go out from December 12 to 21,” Hua said.
Christmas is increasingly being celebrated as a major holiday in China as businesses try to capitalise on the commercial aspects of the holiday while many people also seek spiritual guidance to help them cope with a rapidly changing society.
The Government, however, maintains tight control over churches, banning proselytising and discouraging the growth in parishioners, despite passing a new regulation on religion recently which it says will protect the right to worship.