Churches not targeted: govt

Only 0.26% of demolished buildings religious

Local authorities on Wednesday said the demolition campaign in Zhejiang province is not targeting religion, as only a tiny fraction of the total demolished areas were being used for religious purposes.

A campaign spokesman made a rare clarification over the ongoing campaign against illegal properties by revealing statistics that only 0.26 percent of all demolished or rectified buildings was being used for religious purposes, the Zhejiang-based Today Morning Express reported Wednesday.

Protestant churches only made up 2.3 percent of the already tiny proportion of religious structures, the spokesman added.

So far, 225 million square meters of illegal buildings have been torn down, while 269 million square meters of old structures have been refurbished, the spokesman was quoted as saying by the Express.

"The recent figures released shows that religious buildings are not the authorities' sole target, as they only make up a small proportion of the total area," Shen Guiping, a religious studies expert at the Central Institute of Socialism, told the Global Times.

The spokesman said the "three rectifications and one demolition" campaign, which started in 2013 with the purpose of removing illegal structures across Zhejiang, helps to ease land shortage among other merits.

"These illegal structures were either built before approval or the total space has exceeded the area approved by the authorities," he said.

The spokesman added that not only are these structures polluting the environment and impeding urban development, their existence also affects the government's authority and bring harm to social culture.

Dao Ming, a pastor at a church in Wenzhou, estimated that around 50 churches have been demolished since late April in Wenzhou.

Among the demolished churches, Sanjiang Christian Church in Wenzhou was demolished on April for violations of building restrictions, which has aroused public attention.

The church was initially approved to build an 1,800 square-foot building, but exceeded the limit for five times, reaching 10,000 square feet when it was demolished.

Shen said churches are obliged to abide by the law and not to expand their structures without approval, but she also said that local governments should make their rules and regulations clearer to prevent problems.

Dao told the Global Times that churches are willing to cooperate with government in cases of violations.

He said that believers care not only for churches but also the crosses that are being demolished.

Dao said the cross in his church has been removed three times in the last few months and around 100 crosses were removed in Wenzhou.

The cross has a symbolic significance for Protestants, said Dao, and its removal is as damaging to the religion as demolishing the entire church buildings.

The China Christian Council and the National Committee of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches in May expressed concern regarding the removal of crosses in Zhejiang, but maintained that the campaign helps to urbanize and revitalize the city. They said that religious freedom has not been affected in China, and pledged continuing communications with the authorities.