A top Republican lawmaker is warning against the persecution of Christians and other faiths in China, going as far as to say that Chinese President Xi Jinping is now “playing the role of God.”
Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, made the comments during an interfaith roundtable discussion on the suppression of religion in China. In attendance at the discussion was a Chinese pastor who fled the communist country after facing persecution from the government.
“Xi Jinping has no problem with the first commandment, just so long as he and the CCP are playing the role of God,” Gallagher said during the roundtable discussion.
Later in the event, Gallagher pointed out reports that China is now “rewriting the Bible.” He pointed to the Gospel of John and the story of the adulterous woman, where Jesus said to the crowd, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her,” prompting them to disperse without condemning the woman and Jesus telling her, “go, and sin no more.”
Gallagher said the story was one of mercy and forgiveness, “unless, of course, you’re a CCP official.” He says in that case, it’s a story of a dissident who challenges the authority of the state, referencing a “sneak preview” that was included in a university textbook in China of how a Bible with socialist characteristics would read.
“There, the rewritten Gospel of John excerpt ends not with mercy, but with Jesus himself stoning the adulterous woman to death,” Gallagher said.
Gallagher also said in the Henan Province, in Eastern China, the Communist Party has started to replace the Ten Commandments with quotes from Xi. An example, according to Gallagher, is changing “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” to “Resolutely guard against the infiltration of Western ideology.”
Pastor Corey Jackson, who has served as a missionary to China, said at the roundtable discussion that despite China being a severe religious persecutor, followers of Jesus in the Communist country are not deterred. “If you are a pastor or Christian in China, you wonder each and every Sunday whether it will be your turn to face the fires of persecution,” Jackson said. “And, quite remarkably, they are willing to face these fires.”
One pastor at the event at the Capitol knew first-hand how the Communist Party in China persecutes Christians. Pastor Pan Yongguang of the Mayflower Church fled China in 2019 after threats and interrogations from the government, according to The Christian Post. During a press briefing before the roundtable, he urged the United States to put “pressure” on China to stop the persecution.
The persecution of Christians in China has been a major problem for years. Open Doors, a Christian organization committed to serving persecuted Christians, releases a “World Watch List” annually, outlining the top 50 countries where the persecution of Christians is highest.
According to the 2023 World Watch List, China ranks 16 for Christian persecution. Surveillance is a significant issue, allowing the state to monitor and close down churches, according to the organization. A source told Open Doors that pastors and Christian leaders “are simply snatched away, only to appear months later in a kind of house arrest, where they get re-educated.”
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