Regulations to “protect” minors from religion reach a new level of absurdity, as churches near schools are forced to close, asked to share lists of youth members.

The Chinese government has declared schools to be church-free zones and is taking steps to enforce its will. Bitter Winter obtained a copy of a document entitled Implementation Plan on the Special Governance of Private Christian Gathering Sites, which was issued by the Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs of a city in the northern Shanxi Province. The document calls for the “centralized remediation” of religious meeting venues near colleges and universities (remediation being a euphemism for removing the unwanted churches).

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