Students attend a session at the Shaanxi Bible School in northwest China in this file image. (Photo: Global Ministries)
By UCA News reporter
Jun 9 2023
Students at a Bible school in China attended a study session on last year’s 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and were urged to pay respect to three Christian figures who became associates of the party, says a report.
The Shaanxi Bible School in northwestern Shaanxi province, managed by the state-sanctioned Protestant church body, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM), held the session on May 31, Bitter Winter magazine reported June 7.
The TSPM is known as a frontline organization promoting “Sinicization” — a favorite political ideology of the CCP that aims to impose communist principles on individuals and society.
During the session, the students studied the main speeches and conclusions of the CCP Congress held on Oct. 16-22 last year, in Beijing.
They watched videos of the congress and sang patriotic songs including the CCP’s favorite “Sing a Folk Song for the Party,” Bitter Winter reported.
By singing patriotic songs, the students “expressed their love for the motherland and the CCP.”
During the session, the students were told to honor three revolutionaries, whose lives were narrated by three of its students.
Music composer, Ma Ke, medical doctor, Luo Jinwen, and Bishop Shen Zigao were known as supporters of the late communist leader and CCP chairman, Mao Zedong.
They are accused of betraying Christianity to become staunch supporters and associates of the CCP, according to Bitter Winter.
Ma Ke, raised in a Christian family, was an official music composer of the party for years. He is known for composing the CCP’s favorite revolutionary song “Nanniwan.”
Doctor Luo was born to Anglican parents and attended an Anglican-run school. He later renounced his faith and became a communist.
The CCP hails Luo as a martyr because he died of exhaustion while performing surgery for long hours on those wounded in the Sino-Japanese war in Shaanxi.
Bishop Shen Zigao (1895-1982) was a prominent figure in China’s Anglican Church. He became a communist sympathizer and joined the state-run Three-Self Church. His son Shen Yifan also became a bishop and a leader of the CCP-controlled body.
Officially atheist China legally recognizes five organized religions — Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism, and Protestantism.
All religious groups are required to abide by strict regulations on religious affairs and are constantly monitored by seven state-sanctioned religious bodies.
Any religious activity deemed ‘illegal’ by the state triggers harassment and crackdowns.
Though the communist nation’s constitution guarantees freedom of religion or belief, rights groups rank China among the worst violators of religious freedom in the world. – UCA News
