China is continuing to crackdown on Christianity and places of worship in a major way. In some situations, Christians who tried to stop cross removals were injured by authorities or detained, the Christian Post reports.

According to Italian-based magazine Bitter Winter, over 900 crosses were removed from state-run churches across China in the first half of 2020.

For many Chinese provinces, the cross-demolition campaign has become part of national policy.

“If a church refuses to remove its cross, congregation members may lose their social benefits, like pensions and poverty-alleviation subsidies, and possibilities for their children’s future employment will be affected,” a Chinese Christian said.

Churches were removed from over 250 state-run Three-Self churches in the eastern part of

Anhui, an area with the second-largest Christian population in China. This all took place in the first four months of the year.

Another 656 state-run Protestant churches in the province also saw their crosses taken away in the first of 2020.

Congregants in a church in Hanshan country were told by United Front Work Department officials that any crosses higher than government buildings “must be demolished because they overshadow state institutions,” a Church member shared with Bitter Winter.

“Only churches that look like enterprises are considered legal. To ‘sinicize’ Christianity, Xi Jinping does not allow churches to have Western crosses,” the believer said.

That believer also shared that government officials cautioned that “protesting cross demolitions means protesting against the government.”

“I feel sad thinking that all crosses in our church have been demolished,” the believer shared. “Even though it is a symbol of our faith, who dares to disobey the central government order?”