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China uses anti-terror laws to justify CCTV cameras in churches

Communist authorities say church premises are public spaces and need to be monitored
China uses anti-terror laws to justify CCTV cameras in churches

A temporary church in Wenzhou is full during Mass. CCTV has been forcibly installed in churches in the city and a local bishop was detained over Easter. (Photo supplied)

Published: April 28, 2017 04:58 AM GMT
Updated: April 28, 2017 06:10 AM GMT

Three technicians came to Lucy Zhang's church in the Chinese city of Wenzhou claiming they needed to fix some wires. Zhang said instead of fixing wires the technicians installed a surveillance camera without anyone knowing.

"The church is always packed with people. No one was aware what they were doing with just a small tool box with them," she told ucanews.com.

The Communist Party in Zhejiang province was following an order that Catholic and Protestant churches in Wenzhou install CCTV cameras inside and outside their buildings by the end of March.

Zhejiang, an eastern Chinese province heavily populated with Christians, has an estimated 2 million Protestants and 210,000 Catholics. The port-city of Wenzhou, dubbed "China's Jerusalem" has around 150,000 Catholics.

By now, the installation work has been completed in all churches of both the open and the underground Catholic communities in the city. "Some of them were installed on the upper floor of the church building, some outside the fence and some inside the worship area," Catholic leader Bao Lu told ucanews.com.

"In fact, the authorities have been sending technicians to install cameras since 2016 to maintain 'social order'," Father Francis, an underground priest in Zhejiang, told ucanews.com.

Cameras were installed in the name of anti-terrorism in Christian churches in Hangzhou city, also in Zhejiang, before the G20 meeting was convened in September 2016.

It has been only three years since the notorious cross demolitions and some Catholics wonder if the majority of the faithful are still numb and unable to oppose the latest round of control measures.

The cross-removal campaign in Zhejiang began in late 2013 and ended in early 2016, during which Christian leaders and pastors were detained or arrested. Lawyers defending them were intimated or prosecuted. The demolitions sometimes ended in physical clashes and drew continuous media attention.

 

Justified by safety regulations

Resistance was less fierce against the CCTV installation probably because "the command came so quickly that we did not have time to fight against it. The cameras had been installed before we could take action," said Zhang, the layperson from Wenzhou.

"None of the cameras in my parish were installed inside the worship area. They are all in corners where they cannot capture images," Zhang added with a victorious smile.

Ruo Se, a Catholic leader of the open community in Wenzhou said, "People opposed the cross-removal campaign because it was not supported by any law and it was unreasonable."

In 2015, Bishop Vincent Zhu Weifang, leader of Wenzhou's open community who died on Sept. 7, 2016, led a group of clergy to protest the campaign in front of the city's government headquarters.

"However, for the CCTV cameras, the authority said church premises are public spaces and anti-terrorism regulations applied. So people were not as sensitive as before," Ruo Se explained.

In a few cases, the cameras actually helped catch thieves, he added.

Still, some Christians did oppose the installation, with a few cases of clashes with technicians reported. However, in many other cases, installation was carried out quietly.

Ruo Se believes the fact that most cameras were installed outside the worship area is another reason for less resistance. "Different parishes face different situations. It depends on their priests. Some of them argued with the authorities," he said.

Government restrictions placed on Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin of Wenzhou has also affected how Catholics have responded since they had no effective leader. Bishop Shao — who is unrecognized by the government — was taken away by the authorities from his diocese on April 12. Local Catholics say it was done to deter him from celebrating his first Paschal Triduum as the main bishop of Wenzhou. He returned on April 17, the day after Easter.

It was the third time the authorities removed Bishop Shao after he became the leader of the diocese in September 2016. He was made to travel to far-flung northwestern Qinghai province twice in 2016 to deter him presiding over funeral Masses for Bishop Zhu and a deceased bishop in neighboring Taizhou Diocese.

After returning to the diocese, Bishop Shao was warned not to come into contact with priests in the open community.

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