Chinese city bans Christmas decorations in tilt at 'clean-city' competition

A city in northern China has been stripped of Christmas cheer after authorities banned all festive decorations to keep the streets clean in its bid to climb the rankings in a prestigious national city award.

Shops and street vendors in Langfang are forbidden from selling anything Christmas-themed – from red stockings and reindeer antlers, to Christmas trees and tinsel.

The move is part of efforts to pass the annual rating of National Civilised Cities. The award, presented every three years, represents the highest honour for a city, judged on social development, economy, infrastructure construction and public services.

But critics warn that the rules are part of a wider government crackdown on freedom of speech and religion.

Shops in Langfang are prohibited from putting up posters, banners or light boxes advertising Christmas sales, while outdoor performances celebrating the holiday also won’t be allowed.

Over the Christmas period overnment workers will be carrying out inspections, and all religious activities in public spaces will be monitored and reported to the authorities, according to an official notice reported by state media.

This will allow Langfang to “maintain a clean city environment for an upcoming awards competition,” according to state media.

Langfang’s Christmas crackdown comes as restrictions over freedom of speech and religion have tightened significantly in China under Xi Jinping, the president.

Since September, three independent churches have been shut down in raids across the country as part of a broader campaign to curtail religious and ethnic identity, while promoting nationalism.

Many members of those shuttered churches have disappeared, with some reportedly under house arrest. Churches have been destroyed in some areas, with crosses and images of Jesus Christ removed, only to be replaced with the Chinese flag and photos of Mr Xi. Authorities have also clamped down on Bible sales.

While the ruling Communist Party is officially atheist, it does allow some faiths to be practiced at state-sanctioned religious institutions. But for worshippers, that also means learning and following state-approved religious thinking.

The approach has led to two versions of each faith – a government-approved one, and an underground one. Beijing has long worked to arrest control of those independent religious institutions.

In September, Beijing signed a provisional agreement with Vatican on the appointment of bishops, making a breakthrough on an issue that had fuelled decades of tensions.

China had long insisted that it approve bishop appointments, which clashed with papal authority to pick them. Critics have said the recent agreement, however, will mean greater Communist Party control over the 12 million Catholics in China.

An amendment in 2017 that came into effect in this February gave officials more power to act against independent churches and to impose harsher penalties for "privately arranged religious gatherings."