Crosses Removed from Numerous State-Run Protestant Churches
Even the deadly coronavirus outbreak did not reduce the speed of the cross-demolition campaign sweeping through China. In mid-March, crosses were removed from multiple churches in the eastern provinces of Jiangsu and Anhui. In the neighboring Shandong, the prefecture-level city of Linyi is no exception: On top of at least 70 crosses removed from churches since last spring, more have been taken down during the epidemic.
On February 3, a representative of the Zhuangwu town government in Linyi-administered Lanling county hired workers to remove the cross from a Three-Self church in Hexi village. He claimed that it would be unpleasant for his superiors to see the cross, and he could be dismissed from office because of that.
Crosses of the Christ Gospel Church and the Luobei Christian Church in Hegang’s Luobei county were removed the same month using the same pretext. An employee in the county...