China’s government is cracking down on Christian congregations, along with provinces, in Beijing. According to many pastors and religious groups, China is burning crosses, shutting down churches, destroying Bibles, and ordering followers to renounce their faith. China is considered one of the largest Communist countries in the world and are now designing to “Sinicize” religion in order for a loyal, atheist Communist regime. This is in correspondence to cutting down any power the people have over its government. Under China’s president, Xi Jinping, even as the country goes under a “religious revival”, religious freedom grows smaller and smaller. President Jinping has held the most suppressive ruling over the country since China’s most powerful leader Mao Zedong and persists to strengthen his power, as churches continue to be raided across the country.

One pastor, who’s identity remains anonymous, says several people entered the church at the time of opening and “began removing items.” Another Christian Pastor in the Henan city of Nanyang says many items of his church were set to burn to flames September 5th. Bob Fu of a China Aid in the U.S wrote in an email, “The international community should be alarmed and outraged for this blatant violation of freedom and religious belief.” The Zion Church, considered the largest house church with six branches, was shut down Sunday with over 60 authorities surrounding the area. A notice was posted the same day on the district government of Beijing website, declaring that the reason the church was shut down was because “it failed to register with the government.” It was been noted that all congregations have to be registered with authorities in order for them to be legalized. On the other hand, some have reported there to be underground churches that don’t fulfill the requirements needed by the government.

The Trump administration has stayed silent on the issue at hand; however, the U.S does not have much of a say in the matter. The U.S has considered China a security and trade threat, especially with the tension of North Korea’s nuclear missile program negotiations still on the rise. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says China is a place of “torture” and “detains and imprisons thousands for practicing their religious beliefs.”

The persecution of Christians in China has been an ongoing event since 2012 and has been climbing since. Fu took to twitter a video of many Bibles being burned, while it was reported that people were being forced to sign over their faith and pledge their loyalty to the Communist party. If not, they would be forced to be removed from their school or lose their welfare benefits. Though China has cracked down on freedom of religion, China revealed to have over 38 million Protestants living in the country and is predicted to have the largest population of Christians in the upcoming decades.