China doubles down against foreign teachers spreading Christianity
- New regulations underscore ban against unauthorised promotion of religion in the classroom and require new overseas hires to complete 20 hours of study on the country’s political system
- Authorities are closing what little space there was to discuss the Bible and faith, observers and insiders say
But the school where the teacher, “G”, had taught for five years also removed more than 200 English books he donated to the library, including Mark Twain’s autobiography and works of theologians Dietrich Bonhoeffer and CS Lewis, he said.
G, an evangelical Christian pastor in the United States who did not want to be named, went to China a decade ago to “support” the development of independent Christian churches but the missionary work took a back seat when he switched to full-time teaching around 2015.
In recent years he had been careful not to proselytise and if he was allowed to re-enter China he would have to be even more careful about his religious behaviour, he said.
“But it’s going to be completely different. It is going to be strictly by the curriculum and the book, nothing more,” he said.
That is because a new set of regulations is expected to come into effect soon, restating that foreign teachers should refrain from proselytising without permission and should steer clear of “evil cult practices”, a euphemism for new religions banned by the government.
