FaithWire – In a bid to keep a tighter leash on the country’s growing Christian community, the Chinese government is now employing facial recognition and fingerprint scanning technology at the entrance to churches. Last month, officials set up two biometric scanning machines at the entrance to Muyang Church in Hubei. According to Christian persecution watchdog Bitter Winter, congregants were then forced to have their faces and fingerprints scanned before they were allowed to enter the sanctuary.
More from Bitter Winter: “A believer revealed to Bitter Winter that over a month ago, the local Two Chinese Christian Councils required all meeting venues established by Three-Self churches in Huangshi city to take believers’ fingerprints and put on file their personal and family information.
The churchgoer is disturbed by the order since the requirement not only puts members of congregations under the government’s constant tracking and surveillance but can also implicate their family members and relatives. He added that those relatives who are civil servants or Communist Party members would be most likely punished or have restrictions imposed on their activities; this can even negatively impact their promotion at work.” READ MORE
