This article will be in English. One of the aims of spending half of my sabbatical year in America is to communicate the following insights. However, the re-entry experiences of the past two months have sharpened my thoughts and adjusted my focus. As a result, what I may say here might be more ‘offensive’ to many of my colleagues and friends. I believe ‘offensive’ ideas can be beneficial. If an idea isn’t offensive, if it doesn’t bring some sense of strangeness, and if it only affirms what we always thought, it’s probably not worth sharing.
The task remains overwhelming. I will first provide an outline and then develop some of my thoughts. I may not follow my outline exactly, but I will try to cover all the points.
- persecution narratives
- expectations of persecution
- different types of persecution
- from insiders, outsiders and runnaways
- Can you avoid persecution? and what the cost of avoiding persecution?
- Do they know you? Yes, of course
- agent war
- where does all the theologies come from?
- translation and Chinese church
- free resources, trainings and free topics
- translate a book: the cost
- train a seminar: the cost
- break the wall: the cost
- does those theological debates and political debates nesaasry?
- Money is power
- platform is power
- Runology
- how to justify your decision?
- a lossing of sense of presence
- how many seminarians attended NACSC? (North American Chinese Seminarians Conference) convert into USD investment…
- incarnation is the only workable ministry
- balance of safety, voiceless, and fame
- long term ministry in China (generational)
- undersupported and voiceless
- landscape
- Urbanization
- First Generation: how to live a new life?
- Second Generation: conflict with tradition and authority
- Where are our future leaders: youth and college ministry
- Mobilization
- controlling: face recognition, cameras, and mass line survillance
- one child policy and the future of Chinese church
- ruralization
- infrustructure of mission
- BAM
- Strategy: that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. (1 Tim 2:2)
- incarnation: not in, not out
- variaty of ministry
- explore possibilities
- pay the cost Conclusion
Persecution Narratives
Imagine an article titled “Reexamining Persecution Narratives: Is the Chinese Church Misguiding Believers to Flee China?” You won’t find it online, but it captures the essence of what I’m discussing. Don’t blame me—ChatGPT will take full responsibility for this.
During our short sabbatical in America, we were frequently asked two questions: “How bad is the persecution?” and “Is the Chinese government producing a new Bible translation that calls Jesus a sinner?”
My response to the first question is always this: Christianity is legal in China along with four other major religions. As a Christian, I don’t worry about being stabbed on the street or the police coming to my house to arrest me. If there is any persecution (which I believe there is), it is not like the persecution in some other countries. We face different types of control, like cameras and face recognition, but we are not afraid of being killed or arrested so far.
If I wanted to, being a “hero” is not difficult. Waving a flag or shouting some radical slogans would easily make someone a hero. At least, if I wanted my name in a major newspaper, I might have a chance. Living quietly and doing effective ministry is a different story, which I will unpack later.
The problem with persecution narratives is that you probably hear these stories from someone who is no longer living a normal life in China. They are either “in” or “out.” I will briefly mention our strategy of “not in, not out”: as long as we can, we will stay in China, not going in to prison, nor going out to America.
Simply put, there is a psychological perspective on Exaggerated Persecution Narratives, especially to justify fear and actions. Please be glad when you don’t hear such stories from us.
The problem remains: Are there any serious cases of persecution in China? Yes, there are, and some are really bad. These cases are beyond my ability to comment on. The only thing I can say is that if someone has a passport and a traveler’s visa to leave the country by airplane, they are not in a serious case of persecution. This person may face other types of pressures, burnout, or even depression and be deeply hurt in the field of ministry. I understand.
Can we avoid persecution? No, I don’t know. The powers are always unpredictable. To avoid it, you may need to be less effective in exchange for a longer ministry. You will have to keep quiet on some issues and sometimes remain unknown to outsiders. Being less famous and voiceless means less persecution but also means less support and influence.
One last question on persecution narratives: Do they know you? Yes, of course. The church has an open door, and the other side, with its high-tech surveillance and control, will know everyone’s face and identity and probably everything about you. After some preparation and ministry design, I don’t really pay attention to them as long as I am active in the field.
All the news will be full of persecution narratives, but I hope you will not hear my name in those stories.
A few words on the “new bible tranlstion” which calls Jesus a sinner.
First, this is not from any official bible translation or leaked draft. The report is about a Chinese textbook. Let’s discuss the report briefly.
“A communist textbook that’s being used in Chinese schools falsifies the biblical account found in John 8:3–11. The textbook claims that Jesus murdered the woman who was found in adultery and said He, too, is a sinner.”
Firstly, this is not a communist textbook. Secondly, this textbook is not being used in Chinese schools but is an ethics training material for vocational schools to choose from. I believe no school will choose it due to its low quality. Thirdly, the book is no longer available on the market. Fourthly, if I hadn’t read about it in English media, I would never have known such a book existed.
The story is for students to discuss. I can even understand the point from a traditional Chinese perspective: if you don’t consider yourself a sinner, you have the right to stone the adulterous woman. So, how could Jesus prove himself sinless when all other men left in shame? Don’t get me wrong, even for this type of discussion, the story is not a good one. It’s stupid and worse than the Paris Olympics 2024.
The textbook, published by the government-run University of Electronic Science and Technology Press…
The University of Electronic Science and Technology Press is not a government-run press, as you need to understand how the bureaucratic system operates. The press mainly publishes computer science textbooks. But if you are desperate to have some book titles on your resume so that you can be promoted to a full professor, you can pay a huge amount of money to purchase an ISBN (yes, in China, only 25,000 ISBNs are issued each year). I believe this is the case.
Last time I checked, the new Bible was still under translation. Such a task will always take years to finish. I know the American Bible Society is involved in the project because they feel that if they refuse to help, the Chinese church will always find some other (and worse) partners to do the job, and they will lose the opportunity to influence the translation and ensure certain quality control.
Due to more people using digital Bibles and Bible apps, this new translation will be less important or remain unfinished, but who cares?
Agent War
Ninety-five percent or more of Christian materials and books are translated into Chinese from English or other languages, often based on Western theologians. A handful of Chinese theologians (if any in mainland China at all) are trained by Western universities and seminaries.
Compared to other languages, the Chinese church has a vast amount of free resources, training, and websites. While some people are still waiting for their Bible to be translated into their own language, we may have John Piper and Tim Keller’s newest books published only a few months later than the original English version, or John McArthur’s sermon available the next Monday morning.
To demosntrate my point, there are multiple translations of “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis in Chinese, with at lest one of them is free to read online.
We have all the big names, mega-churches, seminaries, and parachurch organizations coming to China. Why not? People say that China has the largest Christian population in the world, and the church is growing rapidly. Many of these organizations invest significant amounts of money and resources in China and help train many Chinese pastors and leaders.
If good faith equated to good resources, then the Chinese church could easily be the second-best church in the world. But the reality is that nowadays, if I tell people that my Hermeneutics and Homiletics workshop is helpful, they will ask certain questions: Is it free? Are you Reformed? Are you a celebrity pastor? And nobody cherishes the free resources and training they take for granted. People will drop out of any training if they feel it is too hard, too long, or the facilitator is not famous enough.
Because we intensely depend on translations, there are two or three concerns that need to be addressed. Firstly, we often debate theological issues that not only have no relevance to us but are also 15-20 years behind (if not 500 years behind, as sometimes we are still debating Luther and Zwingli). We wait until an author or a book is famous enough to be translated, and then we translate it, often when the context of the writing no longer exists in America, or the issue has already been largely resolved in its original setting. The translation business generally has a delay.
Secondly, whoever invests will expect a return. If a megachurch ministry can train more pastors using scholarships, or a denomination can offer systematic solutions (like 9Marks or Grace City) to help ’establish’ (institutionalize) a church, this one will gain more influence and power. It’s a kind of agent war, with all the well-trained pastors and leaders as agents.
Thirdly, with Calvin and his Reformed theology, we have Geneva and its city council. With all the good free resources and training, we import some of the worst. For example, Chinese Christians attacked each other over the “Biden and Trump” debate. Following our American brothers, some Christians believe psychology is evil, public school is evil, the earth is young (if not flat), and Donald Trump is the savior of the world.
Because for Americans, China is the mission field, so for our Chinese aligners, we think we are doing important mission work for one another, trying to convert Reformed into Baptist, PCA into RPC, or vice versa.
Money is power. Platform is power. Even if we pretend it’s not, whoever invests more will presume more power and have a sense of ownership of the churches and ministries in China.
Runology
Runology (the study of run away): Rùn (Chinese: 润; pinyin: rùn; IPA: [ɻwən˥˩]) is a Chinese internet meme that expresses the desire to escape one’s current country of residence.
The highest point of Christian runology involves a church from one of the richest cities in China, Shenzhen, to Jeju Island, South Korea. They stayed there for two years, were hopelessly denied refugee status, and before their passports expired, moved to Thailand. There, they faced deportation back to China and, at the last moment (as good drama often has), were rescued by some saints from America. They call themselves “China’s Mayflower Church”.
The story is ridiculous. Anyone with common sense will know that South Korea, with one of the lowest refugee status approval rates (less than 5%), being a neighbor of China, will never accept such a Chinese church body as refugees. Thailand will be the same. Here is a quote from Christianity Today:
After quietly leaving the South Korean island of Jeju in late August, Pan announced his congregation’s latest whereabouts to the world through a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article on Monday. That same day, congregants applied for refugee status at Bangkok’s UN refugee office. Their hope to resettle in the United States has the backing of US officials including former Representative Frank Wolf, head of the US Commission on Religious Freedom.
I believe they could have been rescued much earlier for they apparantly had the power and channel to coordinate with mainstream media like the Wall Street Journal to announce their whereabouts on the same day they arrived in Thailand. But a good persecution narrative always needs some drama. So you can read the final part of the story here: Easter Miracle: US Welcomes Exiled Chinese Christians.
Somehow I feel pity when I see Pastor Pan wrapped in a US flag, knowing his narrative fixed for the next 10 years.
Their U.S. sponsors in Tyler, Texas, who have been paying for their expenses while they remained in legal limbo overseas for the last three years, will now help them resettle in the Lone Star State.
This means a big farmland in Texas and several million US dollars for a drama that should not have happened in the first place and also should not happen again.
There are a few Christians (due to their bravery, boldness, or lack of common sense) who are in serious cases of persecution and need to run away. They will not be able to obtain passports or leave the country through legal means. Please refer to John Cao’s case: A Chinese pastor is released after 7 years in prison, only to find himself unable to get an ID.
The dilemma of religious refugees from China is obvious. I don’t need to say more. If our American brothers and sisters meet with a persecuted Chinese Christian, they should first read this article: Law Firms Are Accused of Aiding Chinese Immigrants’ False Asylum Claims. Or, maybe this one from 10 yeras ago: Asylum Fraud in Chinatown: An Industry of Lies.
When pastor Pan of ‘Mayflower of Shenzhen/Joju/Bangkok/Tylar’ said ‘This Isn’t Fleeing. This Is Leaving Egypt’, I smiled. Does Pastor Pan know that the Israelites not only left Egypt, but also went to kill all the Canaanites before they settled down? His theology and bible knowledge should allow him to say, “This isn’t fleeing. This is Leaving a promised land to Egypt, just like Jacob and his sons did. Thanks for Pharaoh and his officers for their hospitality.”
Runology and Persecution Narritives go together. But for either the running-away Chinese Christians with their heroic stories or the persecution narratives, or the American sponsors and churches who are willing to pay the cost, runology is never a victory, and it should never be.
Never Plan to Go Back
Many Chinese Christians who come to American seminaries either stay in the United States after graduation or return to China only to come back to America a few years later.
In May 2024, there was a North American Chinese Seminarians Conference (NACSC) at Wheaton College. Over 200 seminarians attended the conference, representing an investment of at least 50 million USD in the future of the Chinese church. However, only a small percentage of these seminarians will return to China, and even fewer among those returnees will serve as pastors, iand some of them will have an extremely low survival possibility in the ministry context.
The reasons for this are complex. According to an informal survey, the top three reasons are:
- Children’s education
- Fear of worsening religious and political situations in China
- After several years of study, weakened connections with their Chinese churches and limited pastoral positions (many require 4-5 years to finish their MDiv, and if they feel unprepared, they may take another 5-6 years for a PhD. By the time their children are in high school, it is almost impossible to return to China).
- For women, the cultural and social pressures are even greater in China than in America, adding another reason for them to stay (and possibly get married).
Since 2015, I have not encouraged any Chinese pastors to leave their field of ministry to pursue an MDiv in America. With the increasing availability of remote education and online resources, I don’t think it is necessary (or wise) to leave China for an MDiv. Since 2015, I have also stopped hinting that any seminarians should go back. I have changed my advice from “If you don’t have a calling to stay, you should go back” to “If you don’t have a calling to go back, you should by all means stay.”
We don’t need half-hearted, well-trained, westernized pastors in China. They will not fit in, and sooner or later, they will leave.
You can see this issue is connected with the “agent war,” just as “runology” is connected with “persecution narratives.”
Balance of Safety, Voiceless, and Fame
The only way to serve in China long-term is to remain low profile, voiceless, and not famous. When we were about to go back, many of my American friends advised me not to go. They had heard about the bad situation in China (persecution narratives) and were worried we would not survive with three young children and me being around 50 years old.
They asked us to make a ministry plan. We said we didn’t have a plan because the situation is always unpredictable. The only plan we had was to go back and stay there. I said, “We don’t know what we can do there. I believe that just the gesture of a 50-year-old pastor going back with his wife and three young children will bring positive spiritual influence to my fellow Christians.”
So, we went back and locked down for three years due to COVID-19. We homeschooled our children, translated some books (1-1.5 million characters each year), wrote many blogs (150-200 each year), hosted nine workshops (total of 160 sessions), taught a few classes in three underground seminaries, planted a few churches, preached 200 sermons, mentored a few young pastors, and made some pastor friends. After COVID, we began to travel and do some missionary work. Nothing was planned, but after five years, we see some really good fruits left behind.
So far, we have been safe and felt that we still had space to do various ministries. We were voiceless, few people knew us, which meant minimal support from the outside, thanks to all kinds of conferences and gatherings, and we kept our church size tiny.
Some of our friends will choose to be published, some will choose to serve harder and burn out quicker, some will choose to plant bigger churches, and some will choose to serve and pursue advanced degrees. We want to maintain a balance between ministry, homeschooling, and family life as long as we can.
Long Term Ministry in China
Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” (Isaiah 6:11)
After COVID-19, I began to discuss my definition of long-term ministry in China. If the situation does not change soon (which I believe it will not), I probably will not see easier ministry in my lifetime (or before I retire). Therefore, at least some ministry plans should not be measured in weeks, months, or years but in generations.
In China, with face recognition software and cameras, children under 18 years old are no longer able to attend public Sunday worship or Sunday school. House churches are better, but Christian schools are illegal and facing crackdowns. Without student or staff ID, universities are hard to attend and difficult to evangelize. Without creative solutions, the next generation of the Chinese church will have no leaders.
I believe this is the real challenge. The 4 spiritual laws, 5 steps of salvation, and 6 pillars of faith no longer work (and probably never worked in a Chinese cultural setting). We need to find new ways to reach the next generation.
Landscape
Urbanization
China is urbanizing rapidly. The rural church is dying as almost all young adults move to big cities and industrial parks to find jobs, leaving only seniors and children in the villages. Despite this, over 90% of Chinese Christians come from rural areas with only a high school education or less. They need training, but not at the MDiv level; rather, they need Bible college-level education.
In the big cities, many free resources and training focus on urban churches and their highly educated lay leaders. There is a mismatch between the resources available and the needs of the people.
The dominant culture will always influence the subordinate culture, and the church is no exception. As the Chinese church is influenced by the American church, traditional rural church networks are influenced by new urban churches in the big cities. These urban church pastors are often trained overseas as representatives of American denominations or parachurch organizations. Reformed theology and church governance are cracking down on the traditional rural church culture, sometimes creating a worse version of the ‘persecution narrative.’
First Generation: How to Live a New Life?
I know many educated intellectuals who used to be sharp and insightful. But when they became Christians, they suddenly felt confused.
Take myself as an example. I spent 13 years seeking before deciding to be baptized. At that time, I had a PhD and had been a university professor for 15 years. As a former atheist, I was very serious about my new faith and wanted to please God. The only problem was that I was the first generation of Christian in my family. No one brought me to Sunday school or taught me the small catechism. So when a Korean pastor called me to be his disciple (good for him, he was the first to see my potential), I accepted.
I was trained to unconditionally obey my pastor and copy whatever he did. I thought my new faith and new life had to be like this. If my pastor gave me a requirement, I couldn’t tell if it came from Korean culture, the pastor’s personality, his denominational theology, his greed and prejudice toward Chinese people, or the Bible.
That’s why I became a legalist and was spiritually abused. I was not alone. Many of my friends were in the same situation. They were all first-generation Christians and had similar experiences.
We could do better to serve these first-generation Christians. Not to use them as tools for our ministry, nor to view them as numbers in our church growth, but to help answer their sensitive questions and allow them to safely embrace their new lives in Christ.
Second Generation: Conflict with Tradition and Authority
Second (and third, and fourth) generation Christians are different. If they are from rural areas and move to urban areas, they will face many conflicts with their church tradition and feel confused about the expression of faith in the new city settings. Usually, they will need to experience the grace of God in a new way and realize that the conflicts over theology and legalism in their church tradition are premature.
Another group of second-generation Christians come from middle-class families and are hurt by the low-quality Christian education movement, homeschooling, or Christian schools.
Where are our future leaders: youth and college ministry
During the COVID-19 lockdown, all universities were closed. After COVID, there is no sign of reopening to the general public. When we can no longer go into universities and reach out to college students, we are in big trouble. However, the impact of this will be felt in about 10 years.
The solution is to work with traditional rural churches and help their second-generation college students to grow. Traditional rural churches struggle to serve their young adults, and many have given up on youth and college ministry. Urban churches have a good chance to reach out to these young adults if they can build trust with rural churches and not push too hard on their Reformed theology and church governance.
Mobilization
controlling: face recognition, cameras, and mass line survillance
Chinese government uses high techs to control the society. Also, it uses so-call “mass line” to manage villeges and communities. Reference to “Chaoyang Masses” and the articles quated on Wikipedia to understand more.
The Chinese government uses high-tech methods to control society. It also employs the so-called “mass line” to manage villages and communities. For more information, refer to the “Chaoyang Masses” and the articles quoted on Wikipedia.
If a stranger (or a team of strangers) enters a small village and tries to evangelize, the local government will know about it within 10 minutes. Soon, someone will come to ask questions, making traditional short-term evangelization almost impossible.
one child policy and the future of Chinese church
Population decline and aging will become significant issues in China. From 2025 onward, church growth will slow down compared to previous years. Additionally, the past 40+ years of the one-child policy make mobilizing the younger generation extremely difficult.
Urbanization
It’s not necessary to go to villages to do ministry. Second-level cities or third-level towns are better places to establish churches. Church planters are safer there, and they have better living conditions and healthcare. An improved road system will help them minister to the surrounding villages.
infrustructure of mission
The Chinese church is far from ready to send massive cross-cultural missionaries. We need to build the infrastructure for missions, including training, sending, and supporting. For example, we need to find ways to educate missionary kids, support their parents (when most of the next-generation mission workers are the only child of their parents), and provide retirement plans.
Mobilize Han Chinese to reach out to the minority groups
Even though the Chinese church has many resources from both internal and external sources, they are unevenly distributed. Ninety percent of Chinese Christians are Han Chinese, but there are still over 430 unreached minority groups according to the Joshua Project. The best-trained seminarians from top foreign seminaries, if they return, tend to stay in major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangzhou. Sending and equipping a pastor is very expensive, and only wealthy churches in these central cities have the ability to do so. It is natural for these pastors to return to their sending churches. Additionally, funding and support from external sources often go to the “agents” of each ministry and denomination or to missionaries who cannot stay in China after COVID-19.
We need to mobilize Han Chinese to reach out to the minority groups, which is a difficult task. The government fears any sort of connection between different groups of people. While pastoring a local church is relatively tolerated by the government, advertising mission projects is strictly forbidden. Therefore, there is no easy way to mobilize or raise funds for mission projects. We may need to visit individual churches to pass on the vision and ask for support, which is time-consuming and costly. This also results in a mismatch between the needs and the resources within churches.
BAM
Calling missionaries directly from colleges is not a good idea. If they lack working experience, it is hard for them to find a platform to stay in the place they serve. Business as Mission (BAM) is a better way to send missionaries. For the unreached people groups in southwest China, Airbnb owners, coffee shop owners, and volunteer teachers are no longer the best ways to stay. We need to find new means to truly benefit the local people and the local economy.
Strategy: that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. (1 Tim 2:2)
incarnation: not in, not out
Let me use Brother Yun of “Heavenly Man” as an illustration. As I mentioned before, as the rapid process of urbanization, the rural church is dying. In a recent report, Brother Yun told the reporter, “two months after being imprisoned on May 5, 1997, God spoke to him and said simply: It is time to leave.” Which means, his story and his strategy is some 27 years ago. Even “Back to Jerusalem” movement is not a controdictory of Acts 1:8, it’s something the current urbanized Chinese church does not know. The only reason Brother Yun is so popular in the west is that he is not in China anymore so he can tell his story, and those still in China doing effective ministry are voiceless.
It’s worth repeating: the only effective way to serve in China is to safely stay in China. Going to prison makes one a hero, not a servant. Going to America to pursue the American Dream causes one to lose the sense of presence and disqualifies them from being a strategic visionary for the China mission.
Let me use Brother Yun of “Heavenly Man” as an illustration. As I mentioned before, due to the rapid process of urbanization, the rural church is dying. In a recent report, Brother Yun told the reporter, “Two months after being imprisoned on May 5, 1997, God spoke to him and said simply: It is time to leave.” This means his story and strategy date back some 27 years. Even the “Back to Jerusalem” movement, which is not contradictory to Acts 1:8, is something the current urbanized Chinese church does not know. The only reason Brother Yun is so popular in the West is that he is no longer in China and can tell his story, while those still in China doing effective ministry are voiceless.
Even if Brother Yun is still in China, he would not be an effective evangelist anymore if he does not adapt to the new context. But through his story and speaking, he may culminate a lot of resources and power for himself. God knows how he can use it.
Pressure of Ministry
The margin for error in serving the church in China is very low. Sometimes I feel the ministry-oriented pressure to take risks, extend the size of the church, recruit more seminarians, or comment on current political issues. This pressure could come from supporters, coworkers, mission organizations, or church members.
It is really difficult to communicate the complexity of ministry to my American friends. The expectations for us might include many baptisms, extensive church planting and growth, being key speakers at major conferences, and numerous publications. However, if we want to serve longer in China, our best strategy comes from First Timothy 2:2b-3: “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour” (KJV).
For this reason, we will pay the cost of being unknown, voiceless, and probably undersupported. Without dramas, it’s really difficult to craft monthly newsletters. But whenever you receive a dull newsletter from us, not requiring urgent prayers for emergencies or asking for extraction, it means we are doing more than well for another month.
Funding and Transfering Fund
When we have enough foreign missionaries, transferring funds into China is much easier. Currently, even with sufficient funds, the money often goes to some U.S.-based organizations and is spent on secondary courses, making it hard to get into China. Due to the lack of accountability and transparency, and fear of government scrutiny, some churches are unwilling to support indigenous mission workers directly.
Conclusion
The mission field in China is complex, ever-changing, and sometimes unpredictable. The only effective way to serve is to stay safe and long-term in China, explore various ministries and possibilities, and avoid drawing too much attention or being seen as a hero, a threat, or a victim.
The ministry goal should be long-term, aiming to pass on the faith to the next generation and build a healthy church and community. Any short-term goals, if pushed by outside pressure on numbers or by an inner desire to be a hero or celebrity, may quickly end a missionary’s career.
Our American brothers and sisters provide substantial support for the China mission, including free training, resources, rescues, translation projects, scholarships, and master-level Chinese theology programs. However, they sometimes prefer to hear stories that fit their imagination of persecution narratives or to rescue heroes who are “forced” to run away.
With the rapidly changing landscape of China, any visionaries, theologians, former house church leaders, or missionary veterans, after leaving China for a few years, may lose their sense of presence and no longer grasp the real situation of the Chinese church. As their stories are often the only ones heard, resource allocation may not match the actual needs.
There are still many faithful servants in China who feel the pressure of ministry, lack of support, and remain voiceless and unknown. However, there is still enough space for them to explore, serve, and build up the church as they stay. They will meet the ‘GAP’ (Gospel Access Point) and become the Gospel Access Point for both the unreached people groups and the next generation in China.