The Communist Party of China has a new tactic to attack churches, as they use finances to go after Christians. A report just released by the organization, ChinaAid, outlined how the Chinese government is tracking Christians who practice giving offerings and tithes to unregistered churches and using it to charge them with fraud.

Banks are increasingly being used to persecute Christians around the world and China is leading the way. In the last few years, China has pushed hard to become a cashless society – allowing banks and financial institutions to fully monitor the monetary transactions of everyone in the country. This power is now being weaponized against Christians.

Banks currently pose one of the most potent threats against Christians in the world and China is taking full advantage of this power. Few Christians understand how finances can be used effectively against Christian believers, but a quick lesson in history might help to clarify.

In the 1920s, one of the most notorious gang leaders in America was a guy by the name of Al Capone, who was allegedly responsible for the gruesome murder of more than 200 people.  Even though he was one of the most famous mobsters in America, the police simply weren’t able to catch him in any crimes.  Al Capone was clever at running underground gang activities.

Even though the US government law enforcement agencies labeled him as “Public Enemy #1,” they were simply incapable of arresting him on any legitimate murder charges, so they devised a plan to go after his finances. In 1931, Al Capone was finally arrested and thrown in prison, not on murder charges, but on tax evasion.  He was sent to the notorious prison, Alcatraz, where he was incarcerated until just before his death.

China seems to have taken a page from Al Capone’s case to use against the church.