China Said To Expel Christian Missionaries
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
BEIJING — China has kicked out more than 100 suspected foreign missionaries in a campaign to prevent proselytizing ahead of next year’s Beijing Summer Olympics, an American monitoring group said yesterday.
The government launched “a massive expulsion campaign of foreign Christians” in February dubbed Typhoon no. 5, the Midland, Texas-based China Aid Association said.
The foreigners, mostly from America, Australia, Canada, Israel, Singapore, and South Korea were expelled or deported between April and June, the group said.
It said the campaign was believed to be part of “efforts to prevent foreign Christians from engaging in mission activities before the Beijing Olympics next year.” China’sForeign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment late yesterday.
Christian mission groups from around the world say they plan to quietly defy the Chinese ban on foreign missionaries and send thousands of volunteer evangelists to Beijing next year.
Evangelicals worked the crowds at the Olympics in Athens, Sydney, and Atlanta, but the groups say the Beijing Games offer an opening like no other, in a communist country that conservative Christians have long reviled.
