ICC NOTE: Chinese authorities merely do not walk into a church and force them to close down as some would see in movies or tv shows. They do so through false pretenses and through official channels. The latest being Guangfu Church in Guangdong as authorities entered the church claiming to review its residential permit. In doing so they photographed the location and deemed to fire system to be below standards. As a result members of the church were forced to leave. China continues to use different methods in shutting churches down, whether it is by shear force or through semi-official channels.
7/6/2016 Guangdong, China (China Aid) – A house church was forced to move last month after officials in China’s southern Guangdong province closed the building and pressured the landlady to terminate the church’s contract.
Paul, an elder from Guangfu Church, said in an interview on June 16 that police came to the church, saying they needed to check its temporary residential permit. However, they took pictures and inspected the fire hydrant. After deeming it below safety standards, they closed the church on pretenses that it hadn’t registered with the government and its firefighting system was inadequate.
In a meeting with Ma “Mark” Chao, the person in charge of the church, the authorities told him that he could not participate in any more church services due to previous quarrels with government officials.
