The Diplomat author Mercy Kuo regularly engages subject-matter experts, policy practitioners, and strategic thinkers across the globe for their diverse insights into U.S. Asia policy. This conversation with Dr. Paul H. B. Chang – associate professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California at Riverside and author of “The Spiritual Person: An Intellectual Biography of Watchman Nee” (Oxford 2026) – is the 519th in “The Trans-Pacific View Insight Series.”

Identify the top three trends of Christianity in China.

I would say that probably the top three trends are the continued growth and vibrancy of Christianity in China, the increasing scrutiny and pressure placed on Christian organizations and their activities by the CCP [Chinese Community Party], and Chinese Christians’ theological and practical responses to their changing political and social environments. 

Although I use the word Christian, here and for the rest of the interview I am really speaking primarily of Protestants. In China, both legally and linguistically, Protestants and Catholics operate almost as two separate religions. Practically speaking, there is significant interaction and overlap but an expert on Chinese Catholicism would be better placed to talk about how much of this interview applies to Chinese Catholic circles. 

I also want to clarify that my work mostly centers on what one might consider more abstract, strictly theological trends. Thus, the top three trends I personally find most interesting relate to Chinese Christian perspectives on the nature and role of the church, differing doctrines on salvation, and contrasting perspectives on human nature. 

As far as the church is concerned, like all Christians, Chinese Christians have a longstanding interest in balancing the needs of the local and the universal church. They have thought a lot about how authority and administration can be both locally responsive and universally coherent. There is also a related, ongoing debate among Chinese Christians about how much the church should engage with secular society, both in terms of the government and in terms of wider cultural trends. 

Then, in terms of salvation, I think Chinese Christians once again have their own interesting, internal debate that roughly corresponds to theological trends outside of China. Whereas Reformed Christians have focused on more forensic, systematic perspectives on salvation, Watchman Nee is representative of an alternative train of thought that sees salvation as something more organic, seated in the union between the human and the divine.

This leads into my third perspective – that is, contrasting perspectives on human nature. Once again, I see the two main intellectual options as being something like a Reformed tradition, where the divine and human are more strictly delineated and kept apart, and a more mystical perspective, which sees some sort of ontological union as not only as possible but fundamental. 

Examine Western misconceptions about Chinese Christians.

Especially for Chinese Christians who follow or are influenced by Watchman Nee, their primary concern is not with political repression nor with asking for political support from outside China. Their theological mission is largely orthogonal to political changes and continues whether there is widespread support or disapprobation. And yet, they are very interested in communicating their universal vision with the world. 

They have a message for Western Christianity, indeed, for the Western secular world at large – namely that Jesus is coming and that sadly, most Christians and churches have not met his standard and may be found lacking on Jesus’s return. Few Westerners have heard their teaching that human beings should prepare for the end by being united in pure, local churches. In such local congregations, individual members can practice self-denial in self-sacrificing love for one another. This stands in stark contrast to this modern age of self-indulgence and self-promotion, which, they would argue, brings only misery.

Describe the scope of Watchman Nee’s faith and intellectual leadership beyond China.

Nee’s message is quite legible and even attractive to Westerners, especially to those of an evangelical Christian heritage. During the later years of his imprisonment, especially during the 1960s and 1970s, he became something of a cause célèbre among readers throughout the world, as a living example of a Christian suffering for his faith. He is quite readable in Chinese and he wrote a few key books in eloquent English as well, such as “The Normal Christian Life.” His writings have sold millions of copies and have been translated into dozens of languages. 

Furthermore, his influence shows no sign of slowing down, even more than 50 years after his death. In fact, given his popularity in non-Western Christian circles, such as in Africa and Latin America, it is quite possible that he has more readers than ever in 2026. 

All of this means that Watchman Nee belongs to a very select group of Chinese thinkers whose ideas and writings have spread beyond China and the Sinosphere and can truly be considered part of a global intellectual conversation. This small circle includes figures such as Confucius, Lao Zi, and Mao Zedong. Like them, Nee’s influence is not only broad but also deep. While many have casually read or appreciated Nee’s work, for some people, it has become a central moral compass and a guide to their human lives. In thousands of congregations on all six continents, there are hundreds of thousands of avid readers of Nee’s work who actively promote his perspectives on the Bible and on the ideal shape of Christian life. 

In these arenas, Nee’s clear message is that traditional or nominal Christianity alone cannot accomplish God’s goal and purpose for humanity. What God seeks is not adherents who donate money, defend orthodox doctrines, or perform certain rituals faithfully, but true worshippers whose entire lives come out of a radical root of self-denial. This self-denial is neither asceticism nor harsh self-treatment, but the spontaneous forgetting of the self that comes out of a deep love for Christ and the church. 

Explain the significance of recognition by the 111th (2009-2011) and 113th (2013-2015) U.S. Congress of Watchman Nee’s contributions to Christian thought in China.  

In both the 111th and 113th U.S. Congress, Watchman Nee was formally recognized by members of the United States Congress. These are more formal, political manifestations of the larger grassroots support Nee has generally received over the decades. In Christian circles, Nee has been lauded by influential figures across the Protestant spectrum ranging from Jerry Falwell and Carl Henry to Kenneth Hagin and Benny Hinn. Nee has even found followers in popular culture, including Bono and other members of the Irish rock band, U2, who seriously considered giving up their career in popular music because of Nee’s teachings on the self. 

All of these point to the rather undeniable facts that I believe are tacitly acknowledged even within Chinese government circles, namely that Watchman Nee, and his most significant follower Witness Lee, are important figures of world history. As the 113th U.S. Congress statement pointed out, it is ironic that with China’s growing presence on the global stage, some of its greatest thinkers cannot even be legally read within its own borders and their influence abroad cannot be openly acknowledged.

Assess the impact of Watchman Nee’s Christian thought on religious freedom in China-U.S. people-to-people relations.  

Nee’s relationship with religious freedom is interesting. He held to a core set of non-negotiable beliefs for which he was willing to suffering imprisonment and even martyrdom, like many Christians before him. Besides these core, rather theological values, he was willing to compromise and work with the government quite a lot. He felt that obedience to human authority as an extension of God’s authority was a key Christian virtue, and while he was imprisoned, he seems to have behaved himself as an exemplary inmate, except in his unwillingness to recant his faith. 

The people-to-people relationships between Nee’s followers within and outside of China are a key test case for the limits and possibilities for religious speech in civic and political spaces. Individual followers of Nee may and do hold a range of political opinions. Nevertheless, as a corporate body – that is, as the church – they are categorically opposed to direct involvement in politics, except to obey any explicit commands that do not contradict the gospel. It is hard to imagine a more politically quietist Protestant group. 

And yet, despite their quiescent nature, the very fact of their constituting a moral community does create an independent authority within the larger body politic. I suppose that from a completely paranoid perspective, even a completely subservient church may seem to pose a threat because of its independent existence. Still, members of congregations that follow Nee have struck me as model citizens wherever I have met them, whether in the U.S. or China. They tend to be scrupulously honest in their personal and professional lives and see a law-abiding, respectful attitude toward government as a meaningful part of their personal piety and Christian witness. 

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