China Aid Association (CAA) confirms that a central government-directed campaign to expel suspected foreign missionaries has been ongoing since February 2007. According to reliable China Aid sources and collaborated reports by at least five different mission agencies, over one hundred foreigners accused of being involved in illegal religious activities in China have been expelled or deported this year between April and June. Sources inside the Chinese government informed CAA that the Chinese government launched a massive expulsion campaign of foreign Christians, encoded Typhoon No. 5, in February 2007. This campaign is believed to be part of the “anti-infiltration” efforts to prevent foreign Christians from engaging in mission activities before the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Most of those expelled are citizens from the United States, South Korea, Singapore, Canada, Australia and Israel. They were expelled when they were either working or visiting in Xinjiang, Beijing, Tibet or Shandong. This is the largest expulsion of foreign missionaries since 1954 when the Chinese Communist government expelled all foreign religious workers after taking power in 1949. (China Aid Association)
