Paul KeenanPre-dawn raid sees cross removed
A cross which became the subject of a tense stand-off between the Chinese authorities and a Christian community has finally been demolished.
Last week, The Irish Catholic reported on the successful actions of Christians of Guangtou in Zhejiang province to drive police from their church as they arrived to remove the rooftop cross, which was to be removed by official order.
However, it is now reported that subsequent to the earlier protest, which saw Christians form a human chain to protect their church, police moved in a pre-dawn action on June 17 to successfully remove the cross. Members of the Guangtou congregation have alleged that they had been warned by local officials that if the cross protests continued, orders would be given for the entire church to be demolished.
Guangtou is just the latest in a growing list of churches and other religious properties which have been targeted for demolition or forced redesign by authorities in Zhejiang since the start of 2014. The actions appear to be part of a larger move in China to further restrict religions beyond formal government control amid fears they are conduits of external ideas at odds with the country’s communist ideology. According to the Christian advocacy group China Aid, some 360 buildings and crosses have now been demolished.