As UCA News reported on 16 April 2018, both state-approved Protestant organizations (the China Christian Council‚ and the Three-Self Patriotic Movement) have published a
five-year plan entitled: "Outline of the Five-year Working Plan for Promoting the Sinicization of Christianity in our Country (2018-2022)". This plan, available in an unofficial English
translation, includes the publication of a new Bible translation.
Thomas Muller, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, notices that "Sinicization" appears in almost every sentence: "The Protestant churches" goal is clearly to free Chinese Christianity from all foreign influences. One sentence was particularly noteworthy: "˜Contents of the Bible that are compatible with the core values of socialism should be deeply researched in order to write books that are popular and easy-to-understand." Given that a new translation of the Bible is planned, this sentence makes the reader wonder what will happen with those parts of the Bible which are not deemed compatible with the core values of socialism. Surely a key feature of the Bible is that it contains challenging and uncomfortable passages at all times and for all cultures. As Mark Twain once said: "˜It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand!" Will the new Chinese translation attempt to dispel this discomfort?"
