South Korean missionaries fearful as crackdown on ‘infiltration’ in China gathers pace

Foreign missionaries in China say they are bracing for more trouble after two South Koreans were arrested – the latest in a nationwide crackdown targeting “Korean Christian infiltration” that is expected to be ramped up in the coming months.

The two South Korean men were rounded up during a raid on their hotel near Wenzhou in Zhejiang province on May 27, according to a source from the city’s Christian community. About a dozen local Chinese were also arrested in a second raid on an underground church there the same day, the source said. More than 20 law enforcement officers were seen at the Protestant church – one of many unregistered places of worship in China that operate out of living rooms or factory buildings in violation of state regulations – which was set up by one of the two South Korean missionaries. It remained closed last week, the source said.  

In the last month alone, more than 30 South Koreans and Japanese have reportedly been arrested across the country, including in the Ningxia region and in Shanxi, Hebei and Henan provinces. All of them are believed to be members of foreign religious groups, and most have already been deported.

Foreign religious activities came under close scrutiny after an amendment to the religious affairs regulation took effect in February, but sources close to the missionaries said the full impact of the crackdown would not be felt until October, when local authorities are expected to have finished carrying out investigations.

The campaign began in earnest in April, when local religious affairs departments were told to engage in a “special action plan to investigate and prosecute Korean Christian infiltration according to the law”. At the same time, the ruling Communist Party’s United Front Work Department began overseeing religious and ethnic affairs as part of a sweeping restructure aimed at strengthening the party’s control over all aspects of life in China.