Following the local government's campaign to remove church crosses in recent years in China's Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces, Henan has now become the third province to carry out the operation.
This is the first case of the removal of the cross by force in China's Henan province
(This incident happened on September 20, 2017).
Although Thanh An Protestant Church in Tang He County is officially registered, the local government used a crane to remove the church's cross on September 20.
Video circulating online shows the cross on fire after catching fire during dismantling.
Ying Fuk-tsang, dean of the Theological Institute at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told ucanews.com that as far as he knew, this was the first church in Henan to have its cross removed by force.
There seems to be a new wave emerging, but it is not clear whether the order to remove the cross was issued by the central government, he doubts.
Mr. Ying did not know if this latest cross-removal was announced in advance.
But targeting the cross as a religious symbol seems to be in line with national policies, especially for large, fast-growing Christian provinces such as Zhejiang and Henan.
A Protestant leader in the city of Wenzhou told ucanews.com that the government has become increasingly cunning, acting in secret and claiming workers inadvertently destroyed the cross.
About 1,500 to 2,000 churches had their crosses removed in Zhejiang province between 2013 and 2016.
Specific figures on the number of crosses removed this year are hidden, the Protestant leader said.
A Church official in the Luoyang diocese of Henan, who requested anonymity, told ucanews.com that the church in the ancient city belongs to a quiet Catholic community that was ordered by local authorities to remove its cross. within 1 week more than 1 month ago.
They issued a warning that if this request is not followed, the authorities will dismantle it by any means.
Luoyang Diocese officials believe the aim is to force the church belonging to this quiet community to register as a place of religious activities.
However, he noted that despite the expiration of the request period, the authorities still did not carry out their threat.
Ying of the Theological Institute in Hong Kong, said time will tell if the cross-removal campaign will spread to other provinces.
There has been no such action in places like Jiangsu and Fujian, two large provinces with large Christian populations.
But he added the joint strategy of the Communist party and the state is increasingly hostile to religious activities.
Mr. Ying also said that the announcement to tighten regulations governing religious affairs has taken effect, especially on the development of Christianity.
In July, authorities in Henan province released a document stating that religious organizations are not allowed to hold Sunday schools or summer camps.
Although there are no official statistics, it is estimated that Christians in Henan province are the second most populous in the country, after Zhejiang province.
In 2009, Ha Nam had 2.4 million Christians, including 300,000 Catholics.