Chinese authorities in eastern province of Zheijiang had proposed a ban on placement of crosses atop Protestant and Catholic churches. The proposal, once approved, would give Chinese authorities in the province legal ground to remove rooftop crosses of the churches of Protestants and the Catholics.

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RT reported that officials had said that rooftop Christian crosses violated regulations on buildings; however, critics said that Chinese authorities and the ruling Communist Party had been disturbed and rattled about the placement of the religious symbols as there was a rapid rise of Christians in China.

Zheijiang officials had been taking down the crosses from more than 400 Christian churches since early 2014. This caused some religious groups to react on the province's authorities, RT added.

Pastor Zheng Leguo from Zheijiang province had said that the Chinese authorities had attached importance to the religious symbol, which signified no more prominent display of Christianity in the public, according to AP.

Engineer Fang Shenglan at Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Architectural Design and Research confirmed to AP that the crosses would no longer be allowed but did not further elaborate it. Moreover, the draft with new rules the government released this week elaborated the facade's height of the crosses as no larger than 10 percent. Furthermore, crosses must fit in with the surroundings and be fixed on the walls of the buildings, not on the rooftop.

A meeting was held last August between Beijing and the Christian pastors and religious scholars to talk about Christian faith in China; Beijing said that the Christian faith must be foreign influence-free. Moreover, the religion must "adapt to China," an indirect way of telling that the Communist Party must be obeyed, RT reported.

TagsChinese authority, Chinese province, Christianity, Christian cross, Zheijiang, Protestants, Catholics, Christianity, Christian crosses, Catholics, Protestants, Ban, faith, cross, catholic cross