Church was ordered to remove crosses in China
In the past decade, hundreds of crosses were demolished by the order of Chinese communist authorities. Now they ordered a church to remove two crosses, citing a potential "safety" hazard as their excuse.
In Huainan City, Anhui Province, China, local authorities ordered a Protestant church to take down its crosses. They cited potential safety hazards as their reason. The villagers’ committee did not explain the legal basis of their order, nor did they provide a safety assessment report
Normally, a higher-ranking member of the local branch of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would issue a notice through the religious department, and they would demolish the crosses if the church did not remove them within the given time. In this case, the villagers’ committee gave the order directly, a committee that is not qualified for administrative law enforcement.
The church authorities say that if the committee is really concerned about the alleged safety hazards, they would have asked the church for assessments first. The church is in good condition, and the crosses are in use without any safety problems.
In the past ten years, hundreds of crosses have been destroyed by the order of the CCP. Since the beginning of the sinicization policy demolished crosses, burned Bibles, and the destruction of other Christian symbols have not been a rare sight. In Henan province, the government carried out the latest large-scale cross-demolition campaign in 2018.
Source: UCAnews