The generally religiously tolerant and lenient Wa State, officially known as Wa Self-Administered Division, suddenly become embroiled in chaos when the United Wa State Army (UWSA) began to crack down on the unauthorized construction of Christian Churches in Pangsang, the capital of Wa Region, according to local sources.

On 6 September, UWSA released a six-point statement, later translated into Burmese language on 13 September, which stated that all churches built after 1992 would be destroyed as they had been built illegally. Only churches built between 1989 and 1992 were legal, according to the media.

Other restrictions are the Evangelical Christians will not be allowed to proselytize at schools, only ethnic Wa would be allowed to train as religious leaders and they would be under the authority of the UWSA central government.

The various video footage of the Wa security forces demolishing the holy crosses of the churches were posted in the social media, said to be because of the unauthorized building, and many Christian religious leaders were also reportedly being detained.

Reasons

The initial reason was said to be to prevent extremist religious leaders from destabilizing the region.

U Nyi Rang, spokesperson for the UWSA, said their group is investigating the religious leaders, whom it accused of espousing religious extremism.

“We are trying to control the instability in the region caused by extremist unregistered religious leaders from outside (Wa territory),” he said. “Such actions are necessary as we prepare to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the ceasefire on April 17 next year. No extremism is allowed in the area,”  according to recent report of The Irrawaddy.

Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) chairman Rev. Samson, whose church has been conducting baptisms in Wa Region for more than 30 years, said the ban was prompted by the activities of extremist missionaries.

He said: “You can’t call them typical Christians. They are just people who want to attack established churches. They are against what we Christians believe.”

Reportedly, according to Rev. Samson the extremists are for example engaged in acts like not taking medicine when one is ill, not going to the hospital and praying in a peculiar way like reeling on the ground with demoniac manners and so on.

Apart from that the Wa arrested church leaders allegedly involved in burning down of the traditional Nat (spirit) statues that the Wa people worship and their churches have been closed. Reportedly the KBC headed by Rev. Samson, which practices in Panghsang town, is left untouched.

John Cao factor

Another linkage of the Wa crackdown is perhaps the arrest and sentencing of Pastor John Sanqiang Cao, a prominent figure in China’s “house church” movement, a network of small, unregistered congregations that operate independently of China’s state-sanctioned religious institutions. He was arrested since March 2017 on the ground that he organized others to cross the border illegally, as he had been traveling back and forth between China and Myanmar in his missionary work.

“In three years, John helped build 16 schools that serve more than 2,000 children. He was unfairly sentenced to seven years in a Chinese prison,” according to We the People website petition reported by The Gospel Herald.

Protestant Christianity has been one of the fastest-growing movements in China, with the number of followers estimated at 93 million to 115 million, according to Purdue University scholar Yang Fenggang. Fewer than 30 million are affiliated with official churches. The rest belong to a large number of unregistered churches operating out of living rooms and factory buildings in violation of state regulations.

On February 2, China’s amended Regulation on Religious Affairs went into effect, further tightening restrictions on Christian churches and organizations.

The new provisions add more specific rules and stronger punishment to curb religious activities outside official institutions, according to the South China Morning post of September 10.

Thus, it looks like the crackdown going on in China is also ordered to take effect in Wa controlled area, as the UWSA is practically known to be China’s proxy.

Other than that “UWSA might be clamping down on Christian churches, priests and missionaries in a move likely aimed to ferret out suspected US CIA-backed plots and operatives,” wrote Bertil Lintner in his recent piece on the issue in Asia Times.

Recent development

Meanwhile, the recent compromise between the Chinese government and Vatican on the appointment of the Bishops in China could be seen as a breakthrough if not exactly a progress.

Under the deal, Pope Francis recognized seven excommunicated bishops appointed by Beijing without papal approval. According to a person familiar with the discussions, Beijing would in return recognize some, though not all, of the so-called underground bishops chosen by the Vatican.

Communiqué from the Vatican concerning the Provisional Agreement is as follows:

“Today, 22 September 2018, within the framework of the contacts between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China that have been underway for some time in order to discuss Church matters of common interest and to promote further understanding, a meeting was held in Beijing between Msgr. Antoine Camilleri, Undersecretary for the Holy See’s Relations with States, and H.E. Mr. Wang Chao, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, respectively heads of the Vatican and Chinese delegations. During that meeting, the two representatives signed a Provisional Agreement on the appointment of Bishops.”

Perspective

Looking at the crackdown in Wa area the main thrust seems to be to get rid of the Western support base, which China also sees it as a threat to its near monopoly of Myanmar’s peace process hold and keep other international players at bay.

In the mean time, the deal with the Vatican could be taken as a compromised lenient approach   to back up it international standing that has been deteriorating in the face of human rights violations accusation for detaining up to 1 million Uighur Muslims in internment camps in the western region of Xinjiang.

On Myanmar side of Wa territory, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the second strongest  ethnic army within the UWSA-headed Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC) alliance, whose Kachin people are mostly protestant which is facing a heavy crackdown in China, the UWSA could be at odds in dealing with its alliance member. vatican china deal

But so far, according to the KBC the relationship with the Wa authorities were in order and that its churches in Wa area will be allowed to resume operation after the investigation of all Christian churches to weed out the so-called extremist elements among the Christian communities is completed. Let us just hope that the collective purge of Christianity in Wa area won’t have a big impact on the ethnic alliance.