A long-standing Christian website ceased its operation recently after more than 20 years amid an ongoing religious crackdown against Christianity in China.
International Christian Concern (ICC) reported that "Jona Home" notified its readers last April 12 on its website saying, "Due to reasons known to everyone, from now on our site can no longer serve brothers and sisters in Christ. Thanks to all for your company and support in the past 21 years!"
"The disappearance of a website is merely a disappearance of a website; it does not carry any meaning. Except that the website link can no longer be opened, there is nothing else which stopped at that moment; Need not to be concerned, and just keep walking."
According to ICC, Jona Home website users shared their sentiments on Baidu Tieba, a Chinese communication platform, wondering what cause the shutdown of the Christian website. Some users speculated "[The closure] has nothing to do with your laptop. You should know the reason."
Father Francis Liu of the Chinese Christian Fellowship of Righteousness said, "The closure of Jona Home reflects how the Chinese authorities clamp down on Christianity. I feel sad from the bottom of my heart about the closure of such a website. Certainly, this is the most direct result of how China is currently persecuting and oppressing religious freedom."
The Chinese State Administration for Religious Affairs scheduled a ban on unauthorized online religious activities in China, which took effect last March. Based on the report, religious groups should obtain first an Internet Religious Service Permit before conducting a religious activity online, either streaming or publishing sermons. They also prohibited fundraising of any organization or individual "in the name of religion" online.
According to Bitter Winter, the new measure was enacted following President Xi Jinping's complaints about how the internet and social media can be used to "advertise" religion easily. The new measure only allowed five "legally established" organizations, including the Buddhist Association of China, the Chinese Taoist Association, the Islamic Association of China, the Protestant Three-Self Patriotic Movement, and the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, to obtain a license to distribute religious content online.
The five organizations were all subject to surveillance and limitations. They were allowed to broadcast sermons and lessons yet the authorities will check if they publish any "Sinicized" content. The censorship of their contents will make sure that these organizations were aligned with Socialist values, support the party, and were not intended as "proselytization tools."
Religious universities and colleges were also allowed to publish online content solely to their students. No religious content to minors or "induce minors to believe in religion" or it will lead to the termination of the license. Organizations without the license were prohibited to share any images or comments on "religious ceremonies such as worshiping Buddha, burning incense, taking ordination, chanting, worship, mass, and baptisms."
ICC appealed to leaders, "We must continue to call on our leadership to prioritize human rights and religious freedom as a condition of our future relationship with China."
