Despite the fact that China produces over half of the worldâ??s Christmas decorations, the arrival of the Christ-child remains deeply unwelcome in the offices of the Chinese Communist party (CPC). Since Mao Zedong died in 1976, two things have grown exponentially: the economy and religion â?? and specifically Christianity. Not only is China now the largest economy in the world, it is set to become the most Christian country within the next couple of decades. How ironic: an officially communist country makes for the most effective capitalists, and an officially atheistic country makes for the largest number of believers.
Yet while the Chinese government has been delighted with its world-beating economic performance, it has little idea how to deal with the unexpected and unwanted rise of religion. Indeed, it scares the bejeezus out of it â?? not least because there are now more Chinese Christians (around 100 million) than there are members of the CPC (85 million). For just as the secular Christmas of Rudolf and elf-suits and present-buying is all the rage throughout Chinaâ??s bustling shopping malls, so too â?? beyond the malls â?? is the Christmas of the Jesus-child who grew up to be such a threat to the stability of the state that the Romans executed him. And it cannot have passed the attention of the control freaks in the Chinese politburo that a significant proportion of Hong Kongâ??s Occupy protesters were Christians and inspired by their faith.
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