In China there are officially sanctioned churches and there are unofficial or what are called underground churches. For example there is an official Catholic church and there are underground Catholic churches the difference being the former do not offer allegiance (open at least) to the Papal system and are acceptable to the communist regime.
Herein lies the problem. The west criticize the People's Republic of China for generally lacking rule of law however in this instance there is rule of law. Unofficial Churches are illegal in China and therefore services are illegal.
Whether we in the west like it or not, whether we cry religious intolerance, or, limitation of a basic human right to worship as we choose, we can not criticise the PRC officials from taking the action as set out in the attached link in terms of legality or rule of law.
Thus we are caught between a rock and a hard place. We can only criticise the intent of the law not the letter.
Church: Police block Beijing Easter service - CNN.com
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