Bitter Winter
A magazine on religious liberty and human rights

NEWS FROM CHINA

China’s Battle for the Dead: Guangdong Villagers Oppose Crematorium Project, Clash with Police
Residents of Shuikou Town protest for days as authorities deploy riot police and tighten control. It is another chapter in a “war” about burial practices in rural China.
NEWS FROM THE WORLD

Pakistan Blocks Ahmadi Muslims From Eid Prayers
Police and legal bodies coordinated the crackdown. India denounced Pakistan’s treatment of Ahmadis at the UN as a form of Islamophobia.
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TESTIMONIES FROM CHINA
China: The Party Bureaucrat Who Married His Deceased Sister
A national scandal exposes the struggles of impoverished local bureaucrats. Zhao Gongpin used creative fraud to get by. It didn’t work.
TESTIMONIES FROM THE WORLD
Catholic Bishops Denounce Atrocities in Eastern DR Congo: What Exactly Is Happening and Why?
30 years of wars, in part a by-product of the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda, created a situation that seems impossible to solve.
FEATURED CHINA
Death Toll of the Abrupt End of Zero COVID in China: Likely, Two Million
In December 2022, Xi Jinping declared victory over the virus and ended the restrictive policy overnight, fearful of unprecedented protests. It caused a disaster.
FEATURED INTERNATIONAL
The Fear of the Jesuits in 17th-century Poland and Lithuania: The First “Cult” Panic
An exploration of anti-Jesuit polemics reveals a much older genealogy behind today’s campaigns against groups branded as outsiders, manipulators, or “cults.”
OP-EDS CHINA
Women’s History Month Must Not Forget Uyghur Women
Detention in mass camps, forced sterilization, coerced birth control, and sexual abuse are rarely mentioned. Perhaps economic ties with China make criticism inconvenient.
OP-EDS INTERNATIONAL
“Brainwashing,” Steven Hassan, and the OneTaste Case. 2. The Prosecution of Nicole Daedone
The anti-cult movement needed a “legal precedent” to reintroduce the discredited idea that “cults” use “mental manipulation.”
INTERVIEWS

Sayragul Sauytbay: China Is Escalating Repression of Uyghurs and Kazakhs
In an exclusive interview, the former camp worker describes worsening abuses, transnational pressure, and the urgent need for global accountability.
DOCUMENT AND TRANSLATIONS

統一教会に対する東京高裁の決定 5. 国際法違反
「社会的相当性」と「公共の福祉」を理由として宗教または信条の自由を制限することは、自由権規約(ICCPR)によって禁じられている。






