{"id":1392,"date":"2020-06-01T13:37:35","date_gmt":"2020-06-01T17:37:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=1392"},"modified":"2020-06-01T13:37:35","modified_gmt":"2020-06-01T17:37:35","slug":"christian-persecution-watchdog-group-concerned-about-chinas-increased-control-over-hong-kong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2020\/06\/christian-persecution-watchdog-group-concerned-about-chinas-increased-control-over-hong-kong.html","title":{"rendered":"Christian Persecution Watchdog Group Concerned About China\u2019s Increased Control Over Hong Kong"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_1395\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1395\" style=\"width: 515px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-1395\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/409\/2020\/06\/48177316612_b13c75ffc1_c.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"515\" height=\"412\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1395\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Studio Incendo\/Flickr.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Christians in Hong Kong face constant threats in preaching a gospel of freedom in China, an authoritative Communist regime.<\/p>\n<p>News that China has enacted new security legislation over Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous city, is raising concerns for a significant Christian persecution watchdog group.<\/p>\n<p>China recently passed \u201cnational security\u201d legislation, which targets cracking down on sedition and other subversive acts against the Communist government in Beijing, Christian Post reports.<\/p>\n<p>It also allows for Chinese state security agencies to operate in the city. There are concerns that many in Hong Kong will experience a loss of autonomy and civil liberties that have existed since 1997, Christian Post also reports.<\/p>\n<p>David Curry, CEO of the Christian persecution watchdog group, Open Doors USA, has been concerned about the \u201cstrong influence of China on media censorship,\u201d since he traveled to Hong Kong last year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat paired with strong military presence raises my concerns that the people of Hong Kong are losing the independence they have previously known,\u201d Curry told The Christian Post.<\/p>\n<p>Curry thinks the moves taken by China toward Hong Kong were part of a plan \u201cto exert control over the entire region if the western world doesn\u2019t speak up on behalf of the citizens of Hong Kong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He also shared with the Christian Post that he found the new measures troubling, both for the general population and the city\u2019s Christian community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s concerning, when you consider how much surveillance and pressure is being put on the church of China, to see Hong Kong Christians facing these same restrictions,\u201d said Curry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are very concerned by China\u2019s restrictions on religious liberty and human rights. I believe that China is rapidly developing, implementing, and exporting a blueprint of persecution that will drive further restrictions on the free practice of faith throughout the region and even the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Open Door\u2019s USA Watch List examines the pressures faced by Christians in five spheres of life, including private, family, community, national and church, plus levels that were motivated by violence. Based on the specific criteria used, approximately 215 million Christians experience high, very high, or extreme persecution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Christians in Hong Kong face constant threats in preaching a gospel of freedom in China, an authoritative Communist regime. News that China has enacted new security legislation over Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous city, is raising concerns for a significant Christian persecution watchdog group. China recently passed \u201cnational security\u201d legislation, which targets cracking down on sedition&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":565,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[167,720,795,138,402,792],"class_list":["post-1392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-china","tag-chinese-government","tag-chinese-persecution","tag-christian-persecution","tag-hong-kong","tag-open-doors"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Christian Persecution Watchdog Group Concerned About China\u2019s Increased Control Over Hong Kong<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Christian Persecution Watchdog Group Concerned About China\u2019s Increased Control Over Hong Kong\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Christians in Hong Kong face constant threats in preaching a gospel of freedom in China, an authoritative Communist regime. News that China has enacted new security legislation over Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous city, is raising concerns for a significant Christian persecution watchdog group. China recently passed \u201cnational security\u201d legislation, which targets cracking down on sedition&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2020\/06\/christian-persecution-watchdog-group-concerned-about-chinas-increased-control-over-hong-kong.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Christ News Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-01T17:37:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/409\/2020\/06\/48177316612_b13c75ffc1_c.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lesli White\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Christian Persecution Watchdog Group Concerned About China\u2019s Increased Control Over Hong Kong","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Christian Persecution Watchdog Group Concerned About China\u2019s Increased Control Over Hong Kong","og_description":"Christians in Hong Kong face constant threats in preaching a gospel of freedom in China, an authoritative Communist regime. News that China has enacted new security legislation over Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous city, is raising concerns for a significant Christian persecution watchdog group. China recently passed \u201cnational security\u201d legislation, which targets cracking down on sedition&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2020\/06\/christian-persecution-watchdog-group-concerned-about-chinas-increased-control-over-hong-kong.html","og_site_name":"Christ News Today","article_published_time":"2020-06-01T17:37:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":576,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/409\/2020\/06\/48177316612_b13c75ffc1_c.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lesli 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