Goodbye to the Good Book

[Randy W]

in the SCMP

 

China’s online retailers pull Bible from shelves as Beijing gets strict on sale of holy text

Searches for the religious book on JD.com, Taobao and Amazon.cn fail to produce results

 

 

 

 

“This probably started on March 30,” a source at a Chinese publishing house source told Inkstone, a new China news portal under the Post. “Some shops on Taobao [selling Christian books] have been closed permanently.”

The apparent crackdown on online sales of the Bible comes as Beijing and the Vatican continue to seek a deal on the appointment of bishops, which if reached could lead to the normalisation of ties between the two that were severed in 1951.

 

 

[Randy W]

. . . and ABC Australia

Bibles pulled from China's online bookstores as Beijing releases white paper on religious policy

 

 

 

 

On Tuesday, Chinese officials announced Beijing "has always made real efforts towards" establishing Vatican relations during a press conference to release a white paper which coincidentally outlined how religious beliefs and freedoms are protected under the country's socialist systems.

The white paper — titled China's Policies and Practices on Protecting Freedom of Religious Belief — said Chinese religious communities "should adhere to the direction of localising the religion, practice the core values of socialism, develop and expand the fine Chinese tradition and actively explore the religious thought which accords with China's national circumstances".