{"id":1954,"date":"2024-07-28T17:24:29","date_gmt":"2024-07-28T16:24:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/?p=1954"},"modified":"2024-07-28T17:24:29","modified_gmt":"2024-07-28T16:24:29","slug":"72-christians-imprisoned-or-missing-in-four-communist-countries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/?p=1954","title":{"rendered":"72 Christians imprisoned or missing in four communist countries\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
The Bible<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to an International Christian Concern (ICC) analysis, at least 72 Christians are either imprisoned or missing in four of the world\u2019s five communist countries.<\/p>\n

This finding further highlights the scope of persecution that Christians face while living under communist regimes.<\/p>\n

Using\u00a0data<\/span><\/a>\u00a0from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), ICC learned that 52 Christians are currently imprisoned in China, Cuba, North Korea, and Vietnam. Another 20 Christian prisoners are missing in these countries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese numbers are daunting yet unsurprising,\u201d said an ICC staffer in Asia, who added that the actual numbers are likely much higher. \u201cCommunism is just as dangerous and destructive to Christians today as it was in previous generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 72 documented persecuted believers were imprisoned for a range of perceived offences relating to their Christian faith, including \u201cundermining national unity policy\u201d and \u201cinciting subversion of state power.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yang Jianxin of China, for example, was arrested in 2021. He was later\u00a0sentenced<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to five years and six months in prison for \u201cconducting illegal business operations\u201d and \u201cprinting and purchasing illegal publications\u201d after asking \u201ca local printer to print Bibles.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In another case stretching back to 2001, Chung Yong Cheol, a Korean Christian, was\u00a0arrested<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u201creportedly for studying the Bible\u201d in China and deported to North Korea and sentenced to 10 years in \u201ca political prison camp.\u201d Cheol\u2019s status is unknown.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Y Min Ksor of Vietnam was\u00a0arrested<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in 2018 after Vietnamese authorities accused him of \u201cspreading false information\u201d about Vietnamese religious freedom and human rights abuses to persuade others to \u201cestablish an independent state.\u201d Vietnamese authorities allegedly tortured Ksor during his initial detainment and forced him to agree to no longer participate in \u201cworshiping with his church.\u201d He received a 14-year prison sentence for \u201cundermining national unity policy.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In Cuba, Pastor Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo was allegedly \u201cseverely beaten\u201d and urinated on by Cuban authorities in 2021 after they\u00a0detained<\/span><\/a>\u00a0him for participating in a protest denouncing the Cuban government\u2019s abuses of civil liberties and food and medical supply shortages. Rosales Fajardo was reportedly \u201ccharged with disrespect, public disorder, incitement, and assault\u201d and handed a 7-year prison sentence as a result. As recently as June 2024, reports surfaced alleging that the pastor was again the victim of a vicious beating \u201cwhile in detention.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to China, Cuba, North Korea, and Vietnam, Laos, the fifth communist nation, also persecutes Christians.<\/p>\n

According to a U.S. Department of State\u00a0report<\/span><\/a>\u00a0from 2023, Laos officials allegedly engaged in discrimination against Christians for refusing to denounce Jesus. The statement also alleges that \u201cin October, Sa Mouay District authorities forced eight or more families from three villages and destroyed their homes following their conversion to Christianity.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Communism has long been known for its atheistic roots, and the reverberation of those roots is still felt today by persecuted Christians living under communist rule. Karl Marx, who co-wrote the \u201cThe Communist Manifesto,\u201d stated, \u201cCommunism begins where atheism begins.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn, a Nobel prize winner and advocate against Soviet Union oppression,\u00a0spoke out<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in 1983 on communism and its hatred of religion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWithin the philosophical system of Marx and Lenin, and at the heart of their psychology, hatred of God is the principal driving force, more fundamental than all their political and economic pretensions,\u201d Solzhenitsyn said. \u201cMilitant atheism is not merely incidental or marginal to communist policy; it is not a side effect, but the central pivot. To achieve its diabolical ends, communism needs to control a population devoid of religious and national feeling, and this entails the destruction of faith and nationhood. Communists proclaim both of these objectives openly and just as openly go about carrying them out.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another concerning reality of communism is its ability to\u00a0reach beyond<\/span><\/a>\u00a0national borders. For example, numerous Vietnamese Christians who have fled to Thailand to avoid harsh religious persecution are being harassed and pressured by Vietnamese Communist officials who have traveled to Bangkok to bring these refugees back to face trial.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe current extradition trial in Bangkok of Montagnard Christian activist Y Quynh Bdap, who has been in Thailand since 2018, is just one example of the tentacles of communist governments stretching their reach beyond their national borders,\u201d the ICC staffer said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Imprisoned Christians: 52<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u202f<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nChina<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nCuba<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nN. Korea<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nVietnam<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Catholic<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n3\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n0\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n0\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n5\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Protestant<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n18\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n1\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n1\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n21\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Christian<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

(unspecified)<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n

2\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n0\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n0\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n1\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Total Christians<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Imprisoned<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n

23<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n1<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n1<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n27<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Missing Christians: 20<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u202f<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nChina<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nCuba<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nN. Korea<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nVietnam<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Catholic<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n2\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n0\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n0\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n5\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Protestant<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n2\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n0\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n4\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n6\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Christian<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

(unspecified)<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n

1\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n0\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n0\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n0\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Total Christians<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Missing<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n

5<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n0<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n4<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n11<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Catholics imprisoned: 8\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Protestants imprisoned: 41\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Christians (unspecified) imprisoned: 3\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Missing Catholics: 7\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Missing Protestants: 12\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Missing Christians, unspecified: 1\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The story was culled from the International Christian Concern<\/p>\n

<\/h1>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  According to an International Christian Concern (ICC) analysis, at least 72 Christians are either imprisoned or missing in four of the world\u2019s five communist countries. This finding further highlights the scope of persecution that Christians face while living under communist regimes. Using\u00a0data\u00a0from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), ICC learned that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override":[{"template":"1","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":""},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international","category-news"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1954"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1955,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1954\/revisions\/1955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}