Meanwhile， there were still some Christians activelywelcoming the establishment of the new China and Wu Yaozongwas one of them. He had participated in the struggle against theJapanese invaders， and through his contacts with the communistshe had gradually come to know and understand the CPC"s ideas.
After the victory against Japan， he took part in the democraticmovement to protest against autocracy and civil war， but wasassaulted by KMT special agents. Wu thought that the missionof Christianity was to "work as a driving force in the progressiverevolutionary course‘， but， at a time when Chinese society wasundergoing grave changes， those Christian churches were stilladhering to the old practices and had become defenders of theold social system. He was deeply worried about this phenomenonand hoped the churches could catch up with the development ofthe times. On Easter day in 1948， he wrote an article entitledChristianity"s Tragedy of the Times， in which he pointed out thatthe traditions of Chinese Christianity were mainly derived fromthe U.S.， the Christian leaders were mainly trained in the U.S.，many important organizations and undertakings were sponsored by American churches， and their faith and ideology were almosta reprint of American Christianity. Although China was facingan unprecedented transformation in its history， many ChineseChristians followed the "new Crusade line‘ and were virtuallytransformed into a tool of the imperialists and their culturalaggression. He warned at the end of the article that， "The trend ofthe times will go ahead. If our religion is superstitious， backward，and against the benefits of the people， what we have done willsurely be cruelly exposed and punished by history. Until thattime， if we still thought we were compelled to do so by our faithand were entrusted by Jesus Christ， that would be even moredeplorable‘。 Before the founding of the new China， Wu Yaozonghad already penetratingly perceived the problems in ChineseChristianity. He was one of the few patriotic "prophets‘ in theChinese Christian churches at that time.
From Sept. 21 to Sept. 30， 1949， just before the People"sRepublic of China was founded， the Chinese People"s PoliticalConsultative Conference （CPPCC） was held in Beijing.
Altogether eight religious deputies were invited to the meeting，among whom five were from Christian circles， two fromBuddhism and one from Islam. The five Christian deputies wereWu Yaozong， Deng Yuzhi， Zhao Zichen， Liu Liangmo and Zhang Xueyan. In the Joint Guidelines approved by the CPPCC session，it was clearly defined that all Chinese people enjoyed the freedomof religious belief. In his speech， Wu Yaozong stated： "Religionhas occupied its due position in the plan of the construction ofnew China. The principle of freedom of religious belief has beenclarified in the Joint Guidelines. We cherish this freedom， andwill never let the freedom down or abuse it. We will also try ourutmost to stamp out the depraved and vicious traditions in ChineseChristianity and to uproot its ties with the feudalists andimperialists of the past. We are ready to follow all the democrats and democratic parties to fight for this joint objective.‘As to the status and conditions of Christianity in the newChina， there were also debates aroused by the Christians. OnJun. 17， 1949， Dagong Bao （one of the most popular newspapersin Shanghai） carried a letter from five Christians in an articleentitled The Awakening of the Christians in its social servicecolumn， mainly dealing with their opposition to the imperialistsmaking use of Christianity. This letter aroused strong feedbackamong Christians and many people wrote articles to express their views. At the same time， the Christian magazine Wind of theHeaven also published articles written by quite a number ofChristians， discussing the role Christianity should play in thenew epoch. Many expressed their dissatisfaction aboutChristianity"s lagging behind the times. The facts demonstratedthat a lot of Christians had awakened and were ready to marchinto the new epoch and a bright future.
