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The initiative before Congress to formalize trade relations with China may falter due to concerns over human-rights abuses, including persecution of Christians. But a group of American Christian business leaders working in China say economic engagement, not isolation, is the best long-term strategy for nurturing political reform and religious freedom within China."China is searching for its own soul as communism becomes less relevant and discredited," says Tom McCallie, executive director of the MacLellan Foundation, which holds regular consultations on innovative methods of ministry in China. "What relation a company has to its employees says a whole lot to this society. Respecting and hiring people regardless of their religious beliefs is a really important value to communicate to China.""The multinationals are ardent supporters of the rule of law and respect for many freedoms," says Gare Smith, former deputy assistant Secretary of State for human-rights issues. One Christian executive who leads a large American multinational's operations in China supports Smith's point."Despite our pain, discomfort, and anger over abuses in China, it would be wrong to announce that we are cutting off the opportunities to apply our standards and values by living in Chinese communities," says the executive.The executive agreed to a lengthy interview with Christianity Today provided that he not be named. His corporation is a determined advocate for granting China permanent trading rights with the United States.Other Christian business leaders are less sanguine. John Kamm, the influential former president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and defender of underground churches in China, cautions that business leaders who place their hope in the positive effects of capitalism are excusing their inactivity in the face of persecution.At a March hearing on China by the U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom, many China-watchers were skeptical that American business leaders would speak out against religious persecution. Indeed, businesses "are fearful of the Chinese government if they say anything," according to Smith, who visited scores of Chinese factories as vice president of Levi Strauss & Co.At the hearing, leading China analyst Harry Wu presented video and documentary evidence of a three-year government blitz that wiped out every underground church in one coastal county. American business people assume "that money can change [communist leaders]," says Wu, famous for his exposé of prison labor and the trade of prisoners' body parts. "Can you convince a tiger to become a vegetarian?"

Nonetheless, many Christian business leaders now working in China say that they are not just making money, but making a difference in the lives of their Chinese employees.For example, American businesses "provide access for people whose balance of activities" leans to ministry, the Christian executive tells CT. "They have legitimate jobs in China but are very active [in the church]."We have hired local Christians to work on the 'floor,'" observes one expatriate Chinese businessman. "We have also successfully worked with a few Christian factory owners who hired some Christians so that without disrupting or interfering with the work [they] have led over 100 to the Lord."However, the Chinese businessman admits that linking Christian business leaders with local Christians for employment "has a long way to go." Few multinational corporations are open to Christian outreach in the workplace.Expatriate Christians also are strengthening the church in China with their influence and financial resources.Several business leaders and their wives led their Beijing Christian fellowship in financing the rebuilding of the government-recognized church in downtown Luoyang in northern Henan province.The church was in shambles after a long dispute over ownership and the loss of all the building funds by one of the church leaders. The influence of the expatriates helped eliminate bureaucratic delays. The rebuilt Luoyang church will be dedicated this month.But the expatriates' support of the state church has angered unregistered or house-church Christians. The rebuilding of the Luoyang church occurred in close coordination with the Religious Affairs Bureau and the China Christian Council, two agencies under enormous influence and control from China's communist leadership.Further, Luoyang's official church had already built an expensive cathedral-like facility in the suburbs while local house churches scramble for worship space far from police eyes.

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May 22 2000, Vol. 44, No. 6