Students at a Bible school in China attended a study session on last year’s 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and were urged to pay respect to three Christian figures who became associates of the party, says a report.
The Shaanxi Bible School in north-western Shaanxi province, managed by the state-sanctioned Protestant church body, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM), held the session on May 31, Bitter Winter magazine reported June 7.
The TSPM is known as a frontline organization promoting “Sinicization” – a favourite political ideology of the CCP that aims to impose communist principles on individuals and society.
During the session, the students studied the main speeches and conclusions of the CCP Congress held on Oct. 16-22 last year, in Beijing.
They watched videos of the congress and sang patriotic songs including the CCP’s favorite “Sing a Folk Song for the Par-ty,” Bitter Winter reported.
By singing patriotic songs, the students “expressed their love for the motherland and the CCP.”
During the session, the students were told to honour three revolutionaries, whose lives were narrated by three of its students.
Music composer, Ma Ke, medical doctor, Luo Jinwen, and Bishop Shen Zigao were known as supporters of the late communist leader and CCP chairman, Mao Zedong.
They are accused of betraying Christianity to become staunch supporters and associates of the CCP, according to Bitter Winter.
Ma Ke, raised in a Christian family, was an official music composer of the party for years. He is known for composing the CCP’s favourite revolutionary song “Nanniwan.”