Thanks to the @washingtonpost for publishing our new op-ed “China’s crackdown on Christians will backfire.” As my wife and I explain, the PRC’s campaign against my father-in-law and his church is counterproductive even for the CCP’s own aims. Beijing fears Chinese churches' growth, is paranoid about churches' potential to channel public discontent, and resents Christianity's comparative appeal over official CCP ideology. But their actions are likely to grow the church more, stoke discontent among otherwise public-spirited Chinese, and further highlight faith's appeal—and Communism's moral bankruptcy at home and abroad.

"Beijing’s nationwide operation against Zion Church this month resembled the kind of multicity raid typically reserved for dismantling organized crime syndicates, not a response to clergy’s alleged infringements on online worship regulations...But despite the severity of the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts — and in part because of it — the escalating campaign against Chinese Christians will likely backfire. CCP leaders are doubling down on the same playbook of repression that has contributed to Chinese Christianity’s growth, rather than its decline, since the time of Mao Zedong."

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