Placed under the editorship of the well-known and prolific Italian scholar Massimo Introvigne (Center for Studies on New Religions, CESNUR), Bitter Winter is a new, free online magazine on religious liberty and human rights in China that was launched in mid-May. Its content is available in English, Chinese and Korean. Concerns about the fate of harshly persecuted new religious movements (NRMs), such as the Church of Almighty God (CAG), seem to have played a role in launching this new website, described as “a cooperative enterprise by scholars, human rights activists, and members of religious organizations persecuted in China.” The CAG has indeed replaced Falun Gong as “public enemy number one” among NRMs in China, Introvigne said to the Italian daily La Stampa (May 14). But the content is not limited to such movements. So far, the publication has featured items on the Catholic Church and on Islam.
While information on the obstacles and repression faced by mainline religions in China is often available from other news sources, both secular and religious (e.g. the Catholic news agency Asia News, http://www.asianews.it/theme-en/China-1.html), news sources on NRMs in China are less commonly available, unless some spectacular event occurs. Content is limited due to the fact that the website has only been online for a few weeks, but provided that Bitter Winter manages to keep up its pace in publishing daily news, it might turn into a useful resource for drawing the attention of scholars or journalists to topics of interest in the field of Chinese NRMs. This is no longer a fringe issue of interest merely to small circles of experts. On the one hand, China has become a country of vibrant religious creativity, some of which is getting exported beyond its own borders. On the other hand, members of movements such as the CAG are fleeing persecution in China and are applying for asylum in Western countries in growing numbers, thus raising questions for agencies dealing with such requests—and there might be similar waves linked to other NRMs in the future. For more information, visit: https://bitterwinter.org/