Christian missions from across the world, which are based in Hong Kong, may be forced out, it is feared.
There is an increasing ‘climate of fear’ in the former colony, according to a missionary speaking under a pseudonym to Evangelicals Now.
The missionary writes: ‘How will Beijing’s increasingly draconian measures affect the church? Some 12% of the population are Christian and the churches are fully involved in running schools, colleges, clinics and hospitals, so the Christian influence far outweighs the number of Christians. Christian publishers and bookshops have flourished, but from now on all publications have to be censored and approved by a Communist Party body in south China. It seems highly likely that Beijing will soon try to control, subvert and manipulate all Hong Kong churches as it has done for 70 years on the mainland, by setting up a Hong Kong version of the ‘Three Self Patriotic Movement’. Hong Kong has been a successful base for evangelism into the mainland, with many churches running Bible training courses for both house churches and officially-registered churches. This now seems to have been brought to an abrupt halt.
