The Chinese government has intensified its surveillance of Christian communities by installing facial recognition cameras in churches across the country. According to testimonies from Christian leaders and human rights organizations, these cameras are being placed in all four corners of church buildings — including on the pulpit — with the purpose of monitoring and identifying all worship service attendees.
This technological measure coincides with a renewed wave of religious repression under Supreme Leader Xi Jinping. Amid economic pressure and growing public discontent — partly driven by the economic slowdown and rising U.S. tariffs on Chinese exports — the Chinese government has responded with the arrest of pastors and a total ban on foreign missionary activities.
Pastors have even been imprisoned for collecting tithes and offerings, an activity now considered a criminal offense in house churches and sometimes labeled as “commercial fraud.”
Beyond electronic surveillance, ideological control has also tightened: in state-sanctioned churches, it is now mandatory to first sing the Communist anthem and pay tribute to Party heroes before any worship of Jesus Christ can begin. Christian educational activities and the presence of children in religious services remain legally prohibited in registered churches.
The sophisticated facial recognition technology deployed in churches is part of a broader high-tech monitoring system the Chinese government uses to track religious and ethnic minorities. Authorities are also collecting biometric data and building databases of believers without their consent. Experts say the goal is to identify potential “subversive elements,” intimidate worshippers, and deter participation in church life.
Despite this repression, Christianity continues to grow in China. Leaders such as Jeff King of International Christian Concern emphasize that spiritual hunger is rising among the population amid hardship and crisis. While many seek democracy and freedom, what people truly long for, he says, is faith.
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The situation in China is a stark reminder of the urgent need to support, pray for, and raise awareness about religious persecution — and the resilience of the Church — in one of the most heavily monitored and restricted nations in the world.
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