There is a financial crisis taking place that is not being reported in China. 40 banks shut down this month in only one week and another 3,800 are on the verge of collapsing.
The primary reason for China’s financial trouble, a reason that you will not hear anywhere else, is persecution against Christians.
China’s banking system is owned, or at least run, by the Communist government and in the last twenty or thirty years, banks were forced to give out loans – not on a customer’s ability to pay, but on the customer’s relationship with the government.
As a culture, the Chinese are extremely conservative spenders and aggressive savers. China’s banking system has benefited from this, but not even the best saving practices in the world have been able to protect China from the current collapse of the financial system.
China’s bad loans have been covered by a roaring economy and great saving practices of the citizens, but now the economy is tanking and can no longer bear the weight of banking malpractice.
But how does China’s current economic crisis relate to Christian persecution?
In the last five years China has increased their persecution against Christians and religious freedom has taken a nose dive. Persecution against Christians does not take place in a vacuum. There are currently over 100 million Christians in China, and by BTJ estimates, the number might be over 150 million. Though this is only a small percentage of China’s total population, the percentage greatly increases when looking at the top financial centers in China like Guangzhou, Zhengzhou, Wenzhou, Shanghai, etc where Christians make up a much larger percentage. If one were to look at the expat professional community contributing to China’s economic engine, then the percentage of Christians is increased even more. When Christians are persecuted, productive citizens, expats, and investors are handicapped in producing jobs and income for China’s economic engine.
A study done by Georgetown University and Brigham Young University found that there is a direct link between GDP and religious freedom. When looking at the GDP growth of 173 countries, research found significant relationships with religious freedom.
Since China launched their campaign against Christians, they have used significant government resources to shut down churches, imprison Christians, monitor church activity, and force missionaries out of the country. As the aggression against Christians continues, it is likely that the Chinese economy will continue to dive deeper into a crisis.
