ADHRRF – On February 11, 2018, a culture exchange program entitled “NEVER SAY NO (MAI DIRE MAIS)” was held by Kunimà Association on Pagnana Farm in the suburb of Milan, Italy. Chinese Christians from The Church of Almighty God (CAG) were invited to tell the truth of their persecution of the CCP due to their belief. Through this activity, the organizer hoped more people will learn and pay attention to the human rights situation of Christians in China.
In the event, a persecution experience video of Christian Zhiwen was played. In the video, he shared with people the hardship he suffered: He was continuously intimidated and harassed by the CCP police because of his faith, and was forced to flee his home. During his time in hiding, he was violently beaten nearly to death by the police for preaching the gospel. Ultimately, he fled to Italy to seek an asylum.
The people present showed a deep sympathy for what Zhi Wen had suffered in China, and learned more about the persecution of Christianity from him and other Christians. When they learned that the CCP’s common means of persecuting Christians are adopting secret arrest, imprisonment, and cruel torture, using the media to spread fake news and creating public opinion to persecute people with religious belief, they were willing to know more about the CAG.
Chiara Semeraro, vice-president of Kunimà Association, said she was very touched by the experiences of these Christians, who are persecuted but still cling to faith. She believed these Christians are indeed persecuted and urged people to help them.
On-site guests expressed bafflement after they learned that most of the asylum applications of Christians of the CAG in Italy were rejected. In this regard, Ms. Lidia, a staff member of the association, mentioned that most of their applications for political asylum were rejected mainly because the Chinese government and Italy are economic partners. Given China’s increasing economic strength, it is an immense pressure for Italian government to accept these Christians’ asylum applications.
It is reported that, since Xi Jinping came into power in 2013, he has publicized the religious policy of “Sinicization of Christianity,” which has intensified the persecution of Christians. In particular, the CAG is currently the most severely persecuted.
At the end of the activity, 20 Christians of the CAG called on people to pay attention to human rights in China and asked the Chinese government to stop persecuting Christians and give them freedom of belief.
