Reproduced from Bitter Winter: A magazine on religious liberty and human rights in China
China’s religious groups are happy to help when disasters strike. But much of their efforts, and collected donations, are exploited by the Chinese communist regime.According to reports in China’s state-run media, as of Feb. 7, the country’s five authorized religious organizations had collected 300 million yuan (about $43 million) to help deal with the coronavirus outbreak. In the face of disaster, China’s religious believers are eager to assist, but not all their efforts are welcome. The New York Times reported in a Feb. 23 article that when some places of worship, not recognized by the regime, sent in the money collected by congregations to aid those suffering from the virus, their contributions were rejected, the police even questioned some church leaders.
