China to open world's largest Bible printing plant
Allie Martin - OneNewsNow - 2/21/2008 1:00:00 PM
Bob Fu, the president of the China Aid Association, says it's ironic that the communist country of China will soon have the largest Bible print shop in the world.
It was recently reported that China will soon open the largest Bible production plant in the world on the outskirts of the city of Nanjing. The plant will be operated by government-sanctioned Amity Press and reportedly will print one-million Bibles each month.
But while Chinese officials have heralded the development, Bob Fu, president of the China Aid Association, says the communist government could do more to get Bibles into the hands of Chinese citizens. "If China is serious on this issue of printing Bibles, they should make the Bibles available, at least in the public library [and] bookstores and so that citizens can have free access to buy it if they want," states Fu.
Fu says the Chinese government has nothing to brag about with this new production plant. He says with the world's largest population (1.3 billion people), China has the largest number of Christians within its borders.
Lead-up to Olympics
Meanwhile, Associated Press reports the director of China's religious affairs bureau is trying to calm U.S. misgivings ahead of Beijing's Olympic Games this summer. In Washington, Ye Xiaowen met with U.S. officials and spoke at Georgetown University.
After talks Wednesday with Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky, he told reporters that China's peaceful development depends upon its respect for human rights and religious beliefs. Ye said he also met with President Bush's ambassador for international religious freedom, John Hanford, and with Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the retired archbishop of Washington.
Ye criticized as groundless last year's State Department report on religious freedom that said China continued to repress religious groups and was cracking down ahead of the Olympics. Fu argues the crackdown on Christians and unregistered house churches is indeed related to the upcoming Olympic Games.