China installs security cameras in churches by force

China is keeping a closer eye on churches in the country.

Officials in the Zhejiang province have started to install surveillance cameras in churches there, for "anti-terrorism and security purposes."

The new ruling quickly sparked friction between Christians and the communist government, with one Christian claiming that pastors and worshippers who "didn't agree to the move were dragged away," the South China Morning Post reported.

"Government officials came to the churches and put up cameras by force," the witness based in Wenzhou said.

According to China Aid, a Christian activist group, officials destroyed parts of the building, including the church's gate, in order to get in.

"A number of churches were destroyed in Wenzhou during the forced installation of surveillance cameras. Ironic that they were installing it for security reasons!" said one netizen on Weibo.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Zhejiang's Wenzhou city has one of the highest Christian populations in China, at nearly a million.

Ningbo, also in Zhejiang province, similarly has a large population of Christians that were affected by the ruling.

However, religious authorities say that the requirement does not "single out churches" but covers all public places.

"The requirement covers all public places in Ningbo, and does not single out churches," Jin Ke, deputy director of Ningbo's ethnic and religious affairs bureau told state media outlet the Global Times.

Officials added that surveillance systems had also been installed across schools and hospitals.

The ruling to equip public areas in China with video surveillance was first issued in 2015, but officials have refused to explain why the installation was only carried out some two years later.

NINGBO, CHINA - MAY 10: (CHINA OUT) Chinese Catholic worshippers pray during an early morning mass at a Catholic Church on May 10, 2006 in Ningbo of Zhejiang Province, China. China's official Catholic church named a new bishop on May 7, reportedly with papal approval, as Beijing rejected Vatican criticism of the unauthorized ordination of two other bishops. The Rev. Paolo Pei Junmin was named assistant bishop of Shenyang, the biggest city in China's northeast, said Liu Bainian, deputy chairman of the official church, the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, which has no ties to Rome, according to reports. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images) Credit: Getty Images

This is not the first time Chinese officials have come up against Zhejiang's Christian community.

Authorities had in 2014 ordered the removal of crosses on top of its church buildings, calling them "illegal structures."

The campaign, which saw some 360 crosses removed and one church demolished, had sparked international outrage.

There are an estimated 60 million Christians in China.