Foreign Missionaries Kicked Out of China

CBNNews.com
July 10,2007

CBNNews.com - More than 100 suspected foreign missionaries have been kicked out of China, a Christian aid group reports.

The China Aid Association says that the communist government campaign is trying to curb missions work before next summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing.

CAA says that the Chinese government launched a massive expulsion campaign of foreign Christians, encoded Typhoon No. 5, in February 2007.

Most of those expelled are citizens from the United States, South Korea, Singapore, Canada, Australia, and Israel.

According to an American who had been working in Xinjiang for 10 years and requested anonymity, more than 60 foreign religious workers have been expelled from Xinjiang alone.

Some of the workers had been serving the local people for 15-18 years before being asked to leave.

According to CAA’s private interviews with some of the expelled Americans, the Chinese Public Security Bureau, an internal security agency, confiscated their passports for a week, interrogated them, and prohibited them from having access to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing — a direct violation of U.S.-China consulate protection agreements.

Some will not be allowed to return to China for five years.

China bans evangelism, and often harasses, fines, and jails Christians who worship outside the official government church.

Still, some Christian missions groups say they plan to send thousands of volunteers to China next year.

Sources: Christian Newswire, Associated Press