Chinese official: We aren't persecuting Christians

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Communist officials in China have denied waging a "demolition campaign" against churches in the country's most Christian regions, after reportedly ordering a dozen to be destroyed.

The churches - in the eastern province of Zhejiang - are currently facing demolition or having their crosses removed, activists claim. Other churches are said to have been ordered to make themselves "less conspicuous" by turning their lights off at night.

Local preachers accuse party officials in Zhejiang, a wealthy coastal province, of "gross interference" in Church affairs and have urged them to abandon what they believe is an orchestrated campaign.

Last week, Christians flocked to the Sanjiang church in Wenzhou - a rich port city known as the "Jerusalem of the East" because of its large Christian community - after its demolition was announced.

Although officials denied a campaign to demolish churches, the provincial official in charge of religious affairs hinted at Communist Party discomfort at how fast congregations were growing in what is already considered China's most Christian region. More than one million of Wenzhou's nine million residents are thought to be practising Protestants, according to some estimates.

Feng Zhili, the chairman of Zhejiang's ethnic and religious affairs committee, said Christianity's growth had been "too excessive and too haphazard".

China is an officially atheist state that offers only formal recognition to five religions: Buddhism, Roman Catholicism, Islam, Protestantism and Taoism.

Religious beliefs are officially discouraged, particularly among the Communist Party's more than 85 million members. However, support is offered to many officially sanctioned churches and some within the party view religion as a useful ally in maintaining social stability.

Xi Jinping, the president, has been quoted as saying that China is "losing its moral compass" and thinks "traditional" faiths such as Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism could "help fill a void that has allowed corruption to flourish", Reuters reported last year, citing sources close to the leadership.

Last November, Wang Zuoan, China's most senior religious affairs official, suggested faith should be encouraged in order to promote "the religious principles of reconciliation, benevolence, tolerance and moderation".

But such practices should be carried out "under the leadership of the party and the socialist system", Mr Wang, the head of the State Administration of Religious Affairs, wrote in the People's Daily.