June 19, 2026 | The Diplomat
In China, Christianity Is Treated as a Cult
The CCP has decided some fundamental tenets of Christianity mark out the world’s largest faith as a cult, and one that needs vigorous suppression.
June 19, 2026 | The Diplomat
In China, Christianity Is Treated as a Cult
The CCP has decided some fundamental tenets of Christianity mark out the world’s largest faith as a cult, and one that needs vigorous suppression.
Excerpt
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has decided some fundamental tenets of Christianity mark the world’s largest faith as a cult, and one that needs vigorous suppression. That includes sentencing a 77-year-old man to jail, in part, for helping young Christians find spouses and believing that faith in Jesus gets people into heaven. According to the CCP, these were the “heretical” activities of a “cult.”
Pastor Yang Zhijin was sentenced to three years in prison, along with 30 of his congregants, for “using a cult organization to undermine the implementation of the law.” The CCP was referring to Yang’s house church, a congregation not part of the state-sanctioned Chinese church, in Henan Province, which prosecutors allege was part of the banned Full Range Church network.
Samuel Ben-Ur is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies focused on China and Christian persecution.