Part 3/12:
Historically, the CCP's attitude toward Christianity has been hostile. Under Mao Zedong, foreign missionaries were expelled, and Chinese Christians endured starvation, torture, imprisonment, even death, as part of a brutal campaign against religious groups. Although some level of openness returned under Deng Xiaoping, persecution persisted. The late leader Jiang Zemin explicitly described the struggle against the church as a "secret struggle," a sentiment that endures in contemporary policies.