Christians and government officials in China are fighting over orders that certain churches must install surveillance cameras to help prevent acts of terrorism, according to a recent report. “Government officials came to the churches and put up cameras by force. Some pastors and worshippers who didn’t agree to the move were dragged away,” an anonymous Christian in the city of Wenzhou (colloquially referred to as “China’s Jerusalem”) told the South China Morning Post.
“Some people needed to be treated in hospital after fighting the officials.” Zhejiang province’s government requires churches to position the cameras at the gates, offering boxes, altars and other locations for “anti-terrorism and security purposes.”“We Christians do good deeds and we don’t do anything to endanger the public. I don’t understand why the government wants to monitor us,” an unnamed frequenter of a church told the South China Morning Post. MORE
