As atheist China shuts churches, Christians pray in secret

Mr Xu set up the church in 1989, after the Tiananmen Square Massacre. He’s been to prison or re-education through labour camps three times for his beliefs.

But these are the darkest days he’s known, as the party stamps down on any version of religion that does not acknowledge its supremacy.

“We are loyal to God,” Mr Xu tells Sky News.

“We hold up the love. We even love our enemies. But they focus on class struggle, they detain pastors. For them, the pastors are tools for imperialists to attack China.”