Pastor Geng Zejun

The preacher of the Church of the Rock in Shizuishan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, remains in jail and may be sentenced in July.

Readers of Bitter Winter may remember the story of Pastor Geng Zejun, from the remote Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, whose name comes from the Hui Muslims, which represent roughly 33% of the region’s population.

There are, however, Christians too. The Church of the Rock is a house church in the Huinong district of the prefecture-level city Shizuishan, the second largest city in the region, located in the north of the autonomous region, near the border with Inner Mongolia. The Church has a reformed theology and consistently refused to join the government-controlled Three Self Church.

Read more at “Pastor Geng Zejun Committed to Trial”

Shrinking China

China’s population set to contract for first time since the ’60’s as graying demographics start to impact its economic potential.

The world’s biggest nation is about to shrink.

China accounts for more than one-sixth of the world’s population. Yet after four extraordinary decades in which China’s population has swelled from 660 million to 1.4 billion, its population is on track to turn down this year, for the first time since the great famine of 1959-1961.

Read more at “What a shrinking China means for the world”

Drone Mothership

Unmanned sea vessel may be deployed to counter drone swarms and could be used in any invasion of Taiwan.

China has launched the world’s first artificial intelligence-operated drone carrier, an unmanned maritime mothership that can be used for maritime research, intelligence-gathering and even potentially repelling enemy drone swarms.

Read more at “China floats first-ever AI-powered drone mothership”

June 2022 Update

Every June marks the beginning of graduation season in China. This year 9 million graduates prepare for the next phase in their lives before jumping into higher education or careers. Many believers struggle to obtain jobs that will meet their basic needs. Pray that these believers will cry out to their Father for help and encouragement in this difficult environment. For many Chinese university students, their worth depends on their academic performance. When they don’t do well on exams, some contemplate suicide. Ask God to provide these desperate students with a believer in their lives who will love them and share the gospel.

We are excited celebrating 336 “Faith & Fiction” participants who finished the past 12 week classes ending May 28th and gave their lives to Christ. A new “Faith or Fiction” class will be starting July 9th through September 17th with 486 participants who have registered as of this writing. More good news! In our March newsletter we asked you to pray on behalf of Carla who has since retired from her Government job and joined our local ministry team. Carla and her husband Paul will work closely with the underground House Churches in China.

The Chinese churches need the next generation to step up and grow. Pray for new training projects to help the younger generation grow and become mature, humble servants who are ready to lead the church for the glory of Christ. Pray that church leaders will be passionate about these areas of growth and that the projects will lead to not only the lost coming to Christ, but also to new leaders being trained for the future. Pray for strength of faith, courage of heart, grace, and patience as they communicate with disciples. “And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:27)

We often come across some misguided thinking in relation to God’s work in China. For example, if a person looks only for human reasons behind how the Church in China grew to over 110 million people under Communist rule, they will invariably reach a skewed conclusion if they fail to realize that revival is a sovereign act of the Living God. Some people we know have come to China expecting amazing fellowship with powerful saints, but have been disappointed to find the Church there looks a lot like the churches in their homeland, with failings and weaknesses that cause it to depend on the grace of God. On the outside they may look the same, but on the inside the Lord has done a mighty work in China. “Let me live that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me.” (Psalm 119:175)

We just wanted to share with you some insights how much your prayer support means to us and our eight ministry teams in China. We pray that God will bless you abundantly as you serve Him in expanding His Kingdom in China.

Advanced Aircraft Carrier

A seminal moment in China’s ongoing modernization efforts and a symbol of the country’s growing military might.

Construction of China’s third and most advanced aircraft carrier is nearly complete, satellite images taken on May 31 by Planet Labs PBC showed.

The indigenous Type 003 carrier has been under construction since 2018 at the Jiangnan Shipyard to the northeast of Shanghai. With an estimated displacement of 80,000 tons, the carrier is considerably larger than China’s first two carriers and is the world’s largest non-American warship. And whereas China’s first two carriers use a “ski jump” to launch aircraft, the Type 003 employs an electromagnetic “catapult”-style system, enabling the launch of heavier jets, increasing the longevity of the aircraft, and facilitating quicker launches.

Read more at “China’s Most Advanced Aircraft Carrier Nears Launch”

Starlink Satellites

Chinese state researchers advocating for soft and hard kill methods to neutralize the satellite constellation’s perceived military threat.

Chinese state researchers are calling for the development of anti-satellite capabilities against Elon Musk’s Space X’s Starlink satellite internet constellation, citing the broadband system’s potential military applications and threat to China’s national security.

Read more at “China aims to take out Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites”

Advantage Li Keqiang

As the premier gets set to retire this year, it appears that he is determined to achieve a number of political goals first.

Is the Communist Party of China (CPC) witnessing a power shift? It is well known that President Xi Jinping exerts significant control on the governance and political frameworks. However, in the recent past, reports in the international media suggest a growing rift between Xi and Premier Li Keqiang, contributing to a policy dissonance.

The reports note that the Chinese official media are giving more space to the premier, and there is growing speculation that Li is taking control of economic policy.

Read more at “Advantage Li Keqiang?”

Secret Societies Part 6

The religious and ritual features of groups such as the Tiandihui did not resist the competition of Christianity, Communism, and the new religions. In the end, only the criminal element remained.

The academic literature on the history of China of the 1980s and 1990s was dominated by the “archival school,” which followed favorable political conditions that allowed for the careful study of archives both in the Mainland and in Taiwan. When dealing with secret societies and the Tiandihui, this school, which includes historians Cai Shaoqing (1933–2019) and Qin Baoqi in China, and Zhuang Jifa in Taiwan, denies the primacy of the dynastic and national political element (“overthrow the Qing, restore the Ming”). By placing it in the context of Southeast China and Taiwan, these authors manage to see the Tiandihui as a mutual aid society and an evolution of village fraternal societies.

Read more at “In Search of China’s Secret Societies 6. The Once and Future Secret Society”

Secret Societies Part 5

Confusion and ambiguity in the use of “fandong huidaomen” (reactionary secret societies) and “xie jiao” (heterodox teachings) has persisted to this day.

Readers of Bitter Winter are familiar with the expression “xie jiao.” It is often translated as “evil cults,” but a more exact translation would be “heterodox teachings.” Today, being active in a xie jiao is a crime punished by Article 300 of the Chinese Criminal Code. However, the expression xie jiao has been used in China since the 7^th century to designate religious groups perceived as dangerous for the Empire and targeted for eradication. It has also been used in Republican China and Taiwan, before becoming part of both the law and propaganda of the People’s Republic.

Read more at “In Search of China’s Secret Societies 5. Secular Brotherhoods or Religious Cults”?

Secret Societies Part 4

Both Sun Yat-Sen and some Marxists interpreted at least certain societies as forms of political or social rebellion.

The Qing police did not really try to “interpret” the Tiandihui, and the imperial gendarmes were not interested in questions of origin and ritual. The same cannot be said for the English, French, and Dutch officials who encountered secret societies wherever they exercised their colonial power over Chinese communities in Southeast Asia. It is to them that we owe the collection and publication of the rituals, with an interest that was not only police-related, and which also explains the large private collections of flags, banners, certificates, and other ornaments of the Tiandihui “lodges,” which can be seen today in local police museums.

Read more at “In Search of China’s Secret Societies 4. Primitive Revolutionaries”?