05-11-2021 China's Communist Party continues to crack down on independent house churches throughout the country. Some religious rights observers report the limited tolerance granted to some of the churches before the rise of President Xi Jinping is rapidly coming to an end. The magazine Bitter Winter reports the house churches must join the government-controlled Three-Self Church or go to jail. House churches are labeled as xie jiao, "heterodox teachings," by the Chinese government and their elders and pastors prosecuted under Article 300 of the Chinese Criminal Code, originally conceived to crack down on banned new religious movements. Back in 2017, President Xi ordered that all religions must "Sinicize" to see that they are loyal to the officially atheistic party. Since coming to power in 2012, Xi has severely cracked down on human rights, religious freedom, and freedom of expression. Christians are experiencing some of the worst persecution in decades.