The Suicide of Ms. Liu and Other Chinese Persecution Stories

The chapter tells the stories of persecution, arrest, detention, torture, and in some cases extrajudicial killing of nine members of The Church of Almighty God in China. All the stories reveal the real names of the victims and are supported by documents filed with the Human Rights Council of the United Nations during the 2018 Universal Periodic Review of China and published on the website of the United Nations. They evidence a consistent pattern of repression and abuse. The victims were arrested for no other crime than being active in a banned religious group. Members of their families were also threatened and persecuted. Extra-judicial killings were covered up, and families were told that natural causes were responsible for the victims’ deaths.

Fake News

The chapter discusses the notion of fake news and how it is used in propaganda against controversial religious movements. It then examines several accusations against the CAG originating with Chinese anti-cult organizations and media. Based on the transcript of the 2015 trial and other sources, it discusses the murder in a McDonald’s restaurant in Zhaoyuan, Shandong, in 2014, when a woman was killed by supposed missionaries mentioning the name Almighty God. Chinese authorities immediately attributed the crime to The Church of Almighty God. However, documents clearly prove that the assassins belonged to a different religious movement, which recognized an Almighty God other than the one The Church of Almighty God believes in, a unique divine soul living in the two bodies of the small movement’s female leaders. The accused also denied ever having been members of The Church of Almighty God.

Living in The Church of Almighty God

The chapter discusses the demographics of The Church of Almighty God and the difficulties of obtaining reliable statistics. It then presents the organization of the church. Although for theological reasons the church is reluctant to use the word “leader,” there are in fact leadership positions in China at the level of individual churches (20–50 members), sub-districts, districts, and provinces, with a parallel organization in the diaspora. There are internal administrative rules and a procedure to expel those who transgress them. The chapter also addresses the minimalist but rich worship style of the church. It concludes with a thorough examination of the church’s theology of beauty and of the artworks (paintings and movies) produced by the church.

The Church of Almighty God

The chapter describes the origins and early history of The Church of Almighty God. It originated in 1991 around the revelations of a woman, whose name is (probably) Yang Xiangbin, who was later recognized as Almighty God. It then acquired an effective administrative leader, a man called Zhao Weishan. The community went through a formative period of trials and tribulations, at the end of which it recognized that the woman uttering the new revelations was the second coming of Jesus Christ, the incarnated Almighty God. Around this belief a complete system of dispensationalist theology grew, distinguishing three ages of the history of humanity, the Age of Law, the Age of Grace, and the present Age of Kingdom, which will eventually lead into the glorious Age of the Millennial Kingdom.

China’s Struggle against the Xie Jiao

The chapter discusses two key notions of contemporary Chinese policy about religion, “sinicization” and xie jiao. Both words have a venerable tradition in China, but are used by the regime with new meanings. “Sinicization” was once used to indicate that organizations operating in China should have Chinese rather than foreign leaders, but it now means that leaders should be selected, or at least approved, by the Chinese Communist Party. This also applies to religious organizations. Xie jiao is often translated as “evil cults,” but that translation is misleading. Xie jiao is a label used since the late Ming dynasty to indicate movements the authorities regard as antigovernment and socially dangerous. The politics of singling out and banning xie jiao was passed from Imperial to Nationalist China and then to the CCP regime. An official list of groups banned as xie jiao was reinstated in 1995. The Chinese Criminal Code now includes Article 300, making being active in a xie jiao a crime.

The Red Dragon and the Pastors

In 2002 The Church of Almighty God was accused of having kidnapped thirty-four pastors and lay leaders of another Christian group, the China Gospel Fellowship (CGF). The police were informed, or so CGF claims, but did not arrest anybody. Eventually the CGF leaders returned home; only one ended up converting to The Church of Almighty God. However, the CGF kept the accusations alive, and two novels were published about the incident. The chapter discusses different interpretations of what happened and concludes that the same events may have been described as “kidnapping,” a serious crime, by the CGF and as mere “deception,” a minor misdemeanor, by the authorities.

Joining The Church of Almighty God

The chapter discusses the phenomenal growth of The Church of Almighty God and explores the possible reasons for it. While hostile sources claim the church is “against the family,” a study of the church’s sacred scriptures shows that its view of the family is in fact surprisingly positive and conversions often occur through relatives. Five stories of persons who converted are then presented: a young woman raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, a young Chinese man born in the United States, a couple owning a small business in Arizona, and a pastor of an evangelical church in the Philippines. Their narratives reflects the emic narrative of conversion and insist on the persuasiveness of theology. A survey conducted among diaspora church members in three countries (South Korea, USA, the Philippines) shows that most members were in fact converted by relatives, and in turn tried to convert other relatives.

Some Conclusions

The confrontation between the Chinese regime and The Church of Almighty God does not happen in a vacuum. The chapter reconstructs the different attitudes the Chinese Communist Party has had toward religions. Mao originally believed that, with the progress of Communism in China, religion will naturally disappear. Meanwhile, he tried to control it through five national associations (Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Buddhist, and Daoist), to which all believers should mandatorily adhere. This strategy, however, failed to prevent the growth of independent religious bodies, and the Cultural Revolution tried to wipe religion out entirely. After the dust of the Cultural Revolution settled, Deng Xiaoping restored the five national associations and granted religion a limited tolerance. The chapter also shows that, under Xi Jinping, the attitude toward religion became again more negative. The groups banned as xie jiao suffer more than all the others.

Escaping China

As of September 2019, more than five thousand members of The Church of Almighty God have escaped China and are seeking asylum in several different countries. The three largest groups are in the United States, South Korea, and Italy. With some notable exceptions (New Zealand, Canada, Finland, and Sweden), in most countries refugees experience problems in being granted asylum. The chapter discusses the sources of these difficulties and the most frequent objections leading to negative decisions. These decisions may have tragic consequences, as evidenced by case studies of refugees who had to return to China and were promptly arrested there.