The Chinese government is reported to have shut down more than 10 churches in Mindong diocese by January 16, as per the recent update from International Christian Concern (ICC).
The Mindong diocese is estimated to have around 90,000 Catholics and 69 priests, all affiliated with the underground Church.
The 10 closed churches refuse to register with the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA) that is overseen by the Communist Party and remain adherent to the underground Catholic Church.
Of the 10 churches, five were closed because of the substandard fire control measures and the rest were forced to close after the water and power supplies were cut off.
"The government is cunning. Fearing that it will be criticized by the international community again, it disguised the persecution as the demolition of an illegal building so that nobody would associate it with its religious persecution campaigns," one of the Catholics told Bitter Winter.
Some of the latest pictures and videos have shown a few Chinese Catholics gathering and praying outside their closed churches.
In China, around 40% of the Catholics are part of the underground church and according to United States' January 2020 report, Chinese Christians see increasing suffering after the Sino-Vatican deal that has resulted in detainment of church leaders and closer of many churches.
