SANTA ANA, CA (March 10, 2008) – According to various news reports, the United States dropped China from its list of the world's worst human rights violators Tuesday.
No reason was given for removing China from the list but the U.S. State Department's 2007 Human Rights Report said China's "overall human rights record remained poor" in 2007.
China, which will host the Olympic Games starting August 8, is ranked No. 10 on the Open Doors' World Watch list of countries where Christians suffer the greatest persecution.
This year China was classified by the State Department as authoritarian countries that are going through economic improvement and social change, but which "have not undertaken democratic political reform," the report said.
"The government also continued to monitor, harass, detain, arrest, and imprison activists, writers, journalists, and defense lawyers and their families, many of whom were seeking to exercise their rights under the law," the report added.
This report is from an Open Doors statement on China which was released with the World Watch List: "China is a large country with many contradictions. There are Christians who are restricted in their freedom to worship, but there are also areas where the situation is not as tight. Sometimes the government crackdowns against Christians were motivated by preparations for the Beijing Olympic Games in August 2008 and not by anti-Christian grounds. The government wants to make sure that there is no risk for any instability during 2008. The way they wanted to achieve this differed per area and situation. Sometimes unprecedented politeness was used, but there were also reports of house church raids and arrests.
"An unprecedented number of foreign Christians, living in China as missionaries, have been expelled from China in 2007. Sources inside the Chinese government reported the launch of this massive expulsion campaign. This campaign, encoded Typhoon No. 5, is believed to be part of the "anti-infiltration" efforts to prevent foreign Christians from engaging in mission activities before the Beijing Olympics. A number of house churches were raided in 2007 and Christians were arrested; in some cases, the government used physical violence against Christians. Although the situation in China differs per region, it remains difficult for many Christians to practice their faith."
As a result of the continued persecution in China, Open Doors USA has launched a countdown to the Summer Olympics called "One Minute/One Year/One Country." The goal of the campaign is to unite believers in the West to pray for their persecuted Chinese brothers and sisters. Over 1,500 prayer warriors have signed up for the campaign, which began last fall. Believers who participate in the campaign will receive a monthly prayer email calendar and also a daily email brief. Both will include updated information on China and specific prayer requests.
Christians are asked to pray for at least one minute each day; if possible at 8 p.m. Beijing time. To sign up for the campaign, click here!