A top Chinese intellectual famed for his pro-democracy activism has converted to Christianity, reports say.
Ran Yunfei, a writer, essayist and blogger, has previously been named one of China's 'One Hundred Public Intellectuals'. After years of distancing himself from faith, he wrote online on October 31: "Today, I decide to follow Jesus", according to China Christian Daily.
Yunfei says he was first introduced to Christianity in the 1980s, but a decade ago he maintained he had "no will to believe". Speaking at his wife's baptism service at the time, he admitted that he was "more interested in Christianity than Buddhism, Islam or Taoism", but despite making effort to explore the Christian faith, "there has never been substantial progress, which seems odd to me".
In a blog post, he also previously wrote about how Christians could be "a model of honesty" and "engage in social practice" in China, where the influence of Christianity is increasing, despite government interventions such as the targeting of churches for demolition in Zhejiang province.
However, "in China, I do dare not to be a Christian," Yunfei said.
In a 2002 interview with the New York Review of Books, the writer did note that he had been "influenced by Christian thought" through his wife and a friend who pastors a church, and criticised the Communist government in China for trying to stamp out religious belief.
"I'm not a believer but nor am I an atheist; I know the value of spirituality. I don't deny the value. The communists really destroyed religion. They don't understand it at all," he said.
"If this country wants to develop well it needs faith. It also needs NGOs. I've said that Chinese intellectuals don't get NGOs. They think it's 'good people doing good work.' But this is wrong. NGOs are necessary in the same way that churches are. The unregistered churches are public spaces. They're maybe the only real public space in China right now."
His recent conversion has been hailed as a miracle by online Chinese platform 'Maggie's Gift', and has apparently caused some controversy among intellectuals in the country.
Though freedom or religion or belief is guaranteed under Chinese law, campaigners say the government is becoming progressively more suspicious of the influence of Christianity and is trying to crackdown on faith groups.
China last year announced plans to introduce its own brand of national theology and in May 2015, President Xi Jinping called for a curbing of outside influences.
Activists say that under Xi, China is conducting its most intense crackdown on human rights in two decades.
