China’s Christians protest ‘evil’ Communist campaign to tear down crosses
A banner unfurled outside government offices by the group read: “Maintaining religious dignity and opposing the forced removal of crosses”.
Chinese police monitored the two-hour protest but did not break it up, according to UCA News, the Catholic agency.
Zhejiang is home to one of China’s largest Christian congregations with an estimated 300,000 Catholics and one million Protestants split between government-sanctioned and underground “house” churches.
Towering red church crosses – visible for miles around – once dotted the city’s skyline but many of the most prominent been forcibly removed since the campaign began. In some cases, entire churches have been reduced to rubble.
Authorities insist they are attacking illegal building practices not religion. The cross removals appeared to have petered out towards the start of this year.
However, recent months have seen an escalation in removal operations in cities including Wenzhou, Hangzhou and Lishui.