Chinese authorities banned hundreds of Christian gatherings across the mainland this year by using “epidemic prevention” or “poverty alleviation” as justification, going as far as to stop meetings held in caves deep in the mountains, an online news magazine said.

Police officers had also cleared out churches in hundreds of venues, targeting the provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui and Shaanxi, according to the Bitter Winter magazine, which followed human rights and religious freedoms in mainland China.

In Jiangsu, authorities cleared out 111 venues in March, tearing down crosses at the door, removing Christian banners and smashing tiles that carried religious sayings. The government said the operation was for “epidemic prevention” by curbing gatherings.

One churchgoer said: “How is it a type of epidemic prevention to tear down paintings, confiscate bibles and destroy pews?”

In Shaanxi, an official unit tasked with poverty alleviation stormed a family church in May and called on police to stop the religious gathering. Police then threatened that church members would stop receiving social benefits if they continued meeting.

Meanwhile, a religious group in Guangdong province was forced to meet in a cave up in a mountain after authorities demolished its church in February. Government officials found its hideout in July and built a one-meter-high stone wall surrounding the cave, embedding glass shards on top of the wall to prevent the churchgoers from entering the place.

Authorities then chased them out when they tried to hold meetings outside the stone wall or elsewhere in the mountain.

Click here for Chinese version

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play