Religious Atmosphere:
Buddhism is the country’s dominant religion with around 100 million adherents.
Islam is practiced by approximately 20 million people. The government allows for
the practice of Christianity as long as it is done under the auspices of the
state controlled churches. The Catholic Patriotic Association, which does not
recognize the authority of the Vatican, claims some 5 million adherents while
the Three-Self Patriotic Movement claims between 10-15 million Protestant
worshippers. Unofficial Catholics (those who are affiliated with the Vatican)
number around 10 million while Protestant house churches may have as many as 30
million members. Folk religions and Taoism are also practiced by a larger number
of people. Practitioners of eastern religions usually receive less interference
from the government than "foreign" religions like Christianity and Islam.
Tibetan Buddhism, however, is not tolerated by the government.Extremist Groups :
No extremist groups have been cited for incidents of
persecution in China.
Government:
- While the constitution states that citizens enjoy total religious freedom, the
government has consistently attempted to restrict all religious practice to
government-authorized religious organizations and registered places of worship.
- All religions are required to register with government religious affairs bureaus and
accept the supervision of official religious organizations. Many groups have resisted this
action on the grounds of opposing state control of religion, being unwilling to limit
their activities, or refusing to compromise their positions on issues which don't agree
with that of the government.
- The Communist Party officially states that party membership and religious belief are
incompatible. This is a considerable concern for believers since Party membership is
required for almost all high-level positions. Even so, a 1995 government survey showed
that 20 percent of the Communist Party engages in some kind of religious activity.
- Foreigners are not allowed to proselytize. They are allowed to preach to other
foreigners, bring in religious materials for their own use, and preach to Chinese at the
invitation of a registered religious organization.
- In the province of Guangdong, local regulations have been added to the government ones.
Illegal materials (any unapproved foreign religious material) cannot be sold, distributed,
copied, or shipped. Chinese residents cannot accept any outside money or assistance from
foreigners or foreign organizations. The existence of any unapproved religious
organization or personnel is illegal. Foreigners cannot establish a religious
organization, churches, appoint any pastors/leaders, distribute religious materials, train
disciples, or conduct any other religious activities. Foreign organizations cannot recruit
religious students from overseas to
attend religious
universities in China without the approval of the Chinese government. All of these crimes
are punishable by fines of $2,200 to $11,000.
The seminaries are largely government controlled. To qualify for the clergy, one must
demonstrate "political reliability" and pass an examination of their political
knowledge.
Provincial governments have taken extreme means to eradicate the underground Catholic
Church in their jurisdiction. Taken from the plans in the Donglai township, the following
actions were recommended: Registering and setting up a file for each religious believer,
and investigating the background of out-of-town Catholics. These plans also call for
disintegrating the underground religious influences by uniting the majority through
education, isolating and attacking the extremists, developing overall education,
organizing specialists, and using "any other conceivable means."
The government-run Catholic Patriotic Association (CPA) and the Three Self Patriotic
Movement (TSPM) are attempting to unite the 80 million members of the underground church
by offering reconciliation, the promise of allowed registration for house churches, and a
halt to make Chinese theology more socialist, the movement that was lead by Bishop Ding.
Many underground members are concerned the unification will restrict evangelization
methods.
Recent Actions:
2/26/04 China (Washington Times)
Two Chinese Christian Leaders Arrested
China arrested two Christian leaders charging them with "revealing state
secrets" because they did research on persecution, Human Rights in China
charged. The group said Liu Fenggang and Xu Yonghai face five years to life in
prison for investigating crackdowns on underground Protestant "house churches."
"It is ludicrous to designate as a state secret actions taken against members of
the public, such as the destruction of a house of worship and personal
property," said Liu Qing, the organization's president. In the 1990s, Liu and Xu
had been sent to labor camps for authoring an essay on how Christians should
help the poor.
2/16/04 China
Shocking Video Reveals Chinese Government Destroying Church
World Net Dail and VOM - Shocking video of the destruction of an unregistered
Chinese church has been smuggled out of China to a persecution watchdog group.
The Tu Du Sha Church in Zhejiang Province was bulldozed to the ground June 26,
reports the
Voice of the Martyrs. The church, in
Hangzhou City, was founded around 1930 by the group launched in the 19th century
by famed missionary Hudson Taylor, China Inland Mission. Weekly attendance had
grown to 1,500. Police first arrived before 4 a.m. expecting the church to be
empty, VOM said. Instead, they found 300 Christians gathered for prayer. The
police left, but returned just before 8 a.m. with 200 military policemen and
more than 40 vehicles. In spite of the protests of church members, the church
was completely destroyed, the Oklahoma-based group said. A Chinese Christian
covertly videotaped the entire scene, and the video was smuggled out of the
country. "In our 36 years of ministry, we've never had a videotape like this,"
said Tom White, VOM's U.S. director. "This tape shows how the Chinese government
treats Christian groups that refuse to register," he said.
2/10/04 China
Chinese Church Movement Grows
Compass -- A survey
carried out in recent months by leaders of the official Three Self Patriotic
Movement (TSPM) church in Beijing showed that house churches are multiplying in
the city. China’s Religious Affairs Bureau (RAB) had asked TSPM leaders to
collect the information from house church contacts. The survey concluded that
there are at least 3,000 unregistered churches in the city. Most are small
fellowships with an average of 20 members, but larger groups meet on the
outskirts of the city. House church leaders said groups usually divide when they
reach 70 members in order to avoid trouble with the authorities. Meanwhile, RAB
officials say the construction of two new official church buildings will be
completed by December 2004. Some observers believe the provision of these
churches is a move to encourage house church Christians to attend official
services.
1/21/04 North Korea/China CSW (E.
Kendall) & ANS
Humanitarian Aid Worker Arrested
On December 13th, China arrested a Japanese humanitarian aid worker
who has been assisting North Korean refugees. Mr. Takayuki Noguchi works for
Life Funds, and he is being held in Nanning Prison in Guangxi in China.
According to ANS, discreet negotiations have been attempted to get him released
from prison, but it has been in vain. Also arrested with Mr. Noguchi were two
North Korean refugees, a woman in her 40’s and a man in his 50’s.
Mr. Noguchi has been pleading for intervention on the behalf of these two
refugees, because if they are returned to North Korea they will face extremely
harsh punishments. It was been confirmed that they were still in China as of
January 12th. It is still unclear what will happen to them, but
Chinese government officials have publicly announced that Mr. Noguchi could
receive a sentence up to10 years. The situation for Mr. Noguchi and the
refugees remains uncertain, but the greatest concern is for the refugees because
of the terrible fate that would await them that would include harsh torture and
possible death.
1/3/04 China (Jubilee Campaign & Assist
News- Dan Wooding)
Chinese Court Sentences South Korean Christian to 9 Years
In Prison for Helping North Korean Refugees
A Christian human
rights group has called for prayer for a South Korean Christian humanitarian
worker who was sentenced to a nine year jail sentence in early December for
aiding a small group of North Korean refugees in defecting to South Korea. The
Jubilee Campaign USA named the Christian as Reverend Choi, Bong-il. Rev. Choi
was originally arrested on April 12, 2002, in Yanji, Jilin Province, and charged
with the crime of organizing illegal border crossings for helping North Korean
refugees attempt to defect to South Korea. “A trial was held for Rev. Choi on
December 5, 2002. After the trial, the court did not render a verdict nor set a
date on which the verdict would be delivered, yet Chinese authorities continued
to detain Rev. Choi,” said the Jubilee spokesperson. “Twenty-eight months after
Rev. Choi's arrest, the court finally rendered the guilty verdict accompanied by
the outrageous nine year sentence.
“Humanitarian workers help North Koreans in China by providing
humanitarian relief and the means to travel to other countries such as South
Korea. However, the Chinese government continues to imprison, torture, and
convict these humanitarian workers simply for providing life sustaining aid to
the North Koreans.“Please pray that Rev. Choi's appeal will be timely heard by
the court and that his nine year sentence will be either reduced or the guilty
verdict will be overturned and he will be released. Please pray that God
continue to give him spiritual and physical strength while he is in detention.”
12/12/03 China
Compass by
Xu Mei
Brutal Treatment Claims Life of Chinese Christian In Police Custody-1000 People
In Protest March
NANJING-- Reliable sources have confirmed the death of a house church Christian
in police custody on October 30. Mrs. Zhang Hongmei, 33, was arrested by local
police in Dongmiaodong village near Pingdu city in Shandong province on October
29. News of her death was released by China Aid, an organization based in
Philadelphia and run by Bob Fu, a former member of a Chinese house church. At 2
p.m. on October 29, police summoned Zhang’s family and asked them to pay a bribe
of 3,000 RMB (about $400) to secure her release. As this sum is well over a
year’s wages for many peasant families, they were unable to raise the money.
Zhang’s family returned to the police station at 7 p.m. to beg for mercy.
As they pleaded with police officers, they saw
Hongmei bound with heavy chains, visibly injured and unable to speak to them.
On the following day, the
family was again summoned to the police station and told that Hongmei had died
at noon. A subsequent autopsy revealed several wounds to her face, hands and leg
and serious internal bleeding. On November 31, Hongmei’s family approached city
officials and asked for an inquiry. Approximately 1,000 people joined a protest
march in front of the Pingdu city offices that day, a rare display of solidarity
with a victim of police brutality. In another incident on November 11, Chinese
Christian Zhang Yi-nan was badly beaten on arrival at a labor camp just outside
Ping Ding Shan city. According to a report released by Voice of the Martyrs,
Zhang was beaten by fellow inmates at the request of prison guards, as part of
the “re-education” process. Zhang was arrested on September 26 and sentenced to
two years of “re-education through labor.” The sentence, common for lay members
of house churches, is often imposed without a court trial or access to lawyers.
The two incidents prove China’s lack of commitment to the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a
veteran China watcher said. That 1,000 ordinary Chinese citizens were brave
enough to oppose the treatment of Hongmei marks important progress in addressing
such abuses, he added.
12/4/03 China (Voice
of the Martyrs)
Dr. Xu
Yonghai, a prominent Christian psychiatrist was arrested in Beijing on
November 9, 2003. VOM sources learned this week that Brother Liu has been
moved from Beijing to Xiaoshan City in Zhejing Province, where Liu Fenggang is
also being detained. Apparently, authorities are continuing to try to tie Xu
together with Liu who has been falsely charged with revealing national
secrets. Xu’s wife was not informed of her husband’s whereabouts by
authorities and only learned of her husband’s location through VOM sources
this week. She has written an open letter to Christians around the world on
her husband’s behalf:
Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, the Church of Christ in the
world.
Peace to you in the Lord. My husband, Dr. Xu Yonghai, is a Christian
believer. He is a graduate of the medical school of the Beijing University
and is now a doctor at Pingan Hospital. He has been a believer for many
years. Since the day I met him until the day he was arrested, he has been
spreading the gospel.
Besides his professional job as a doctor, he dedicated most of his time to the
Lord. He shares the gospel to everyone he knows and dedicated his only house
(which is only 10 square metres in size) as a house church and by God’s grace,
many people have come to believe in the Lord in that house.
Every Sunday, brothers and sisters gather together at that house, praying,
singing and having Bible studies. In order to prepare for church services, my
husband often read the Bible and studied the Lord’s lessons when he returned
early on Sunday morning from his Saturday night shift without taking any
rest.
Though facing all types of persecution, yet he relied on Christ and our house
church meetings persisted until the government forcibly destroyed our house.
My husband is a good believer and a good doctor. He has been bringing the
love of our Lord Christ to anyone whom he has been able to encounter. He
cares very much for everyone and is always busy interacting with ordinary
people. Their difficulties became his difficulties. He was raised in an
ordinary family and he was dedicated to serving ordinary people. Wherever
there is injustice, you can find his shadow. He is a very fine social
activist.
His arrest today is a great irony to the phenomenon of social injustice. I am
convinced that my husband is innocent, having committed no crime. I call upon
the Chinese government to release my husband. I plead to the brothers and
sisters in the Lord to pray before the Lord on Brother Xu’s behalf.
Pray that the Lord will protect him with peace. Pray that he will come back
home peacefully as soon as possible.
Emmanuel, Li Shanna
11/26/03
China (Shanghai)
AP Christopher Bodeen-Police have charged an activist for China's unofficial Christian church
with revealing state secrets more than a month after he was detained while
investigating church demolitions, a U.S.-based church activist said Wednesday.
Authorities in the eastern city of Hangzhou issued a formal arrest notice for
Liu Fenggang on Tuesday, said Bob Fu, citing unidentified police sources. That
step clears the way for Liu's likely indictment and trial. Fu said police
earlier this month denied a request by Liu's lawyer to visit his client,
saying that was not permitted in cases involving state secrets. Authorities
have not said what sort of secrets Liu was accused of revealing, according to
Fu, who heads the China Aid Association, which is based in the Philadelphia
suburb of Glenside. Liu's Beijing lawyer, Zhao Jian, said his client was under
investigation on state secrets charges, but declined to discuss details of the
case over the telephone. China's sweeping state secrets law is ill-defined and
broadly applied. Those charged under it have included independent labor
organizers, representatives of householders whose dwellings were destroyed in
urban renewal projects and people who have posted political essays on the
Internet. Liu was detained on Oct. 13 in Hangzhou while visiting with leaders
of destroyed churches who had recently been released from detention. About one
dozen Christian churches have been torn down over recent weeks by authorities
in the Hangzhou area after they were labeled illegal religious venues. Police
at Hangzhou's Xiaoshan district said they had no information about Liu's case
and repeatedly transferred calls without answering questions. Fu called on
U.S. President George W. Bush to push for Liu's release when meeting with
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Washington next month. "This is such an obvious
case of using the so-called law to carry out religious persecution," Fu said
in a news release. China's officially atheistic Communist authorities allow
worship only in tightly controlled state churches and those who meet outside
are routinely harassed and fined, and sometimes sent to labor camps. While the
official Protestant church, the awkwardly named "Three-Self Patriotic
Movement," claims 10 million followers, up to 50 million are believed to
worship in unofficial Protestant congregations.
11/20/03 China
Vatican
Chinese Bishop Resurfaces After 6 Years-Su Zhimin Reported Ill and in
Government Detention-BAODING, China, NOV. 20, 2003 (Zenit.org).-
Bishop Su Zhimin, the underground Catholic leader of Baoding arrested six year
ago, has resurfaced in government custody and is reportedly suffering eye and
heart ailments, a watchdog group says. Inquiries to the Chinese government
from various U.S. government and non-government agencies about his whereabouts
and state of health were never answered satisfactorily, said the
Connecticut-based Cardinal Kung Foundation. The group said that on or around
last Saturday, Bishop Su was taken to the Officers' Ward of the Baoding
Central Hospital in Baoding, Hebei province, for an eye operation and for
heart ailments.
He was heavily guarded by about 20 plainclothes government security personnel,
the Kung Foundation said. The name of Su Zhimin was not officially registered
in the hospital record, the group said. Bishop Su is a prominent leader of the
underground Catholic Church in China. In January 1994 he met privately with
U.S. Representative Christopher Smith of New Jersey, during the congressman's
official visit to China. Immediately after Smith's departure from China,
Bishop Su was arrested and detained for nine days. The bishop has been
arrested at least five times and has spent about 27 years in prison so far,
the Kung Foundation said.
Joseph Kung, president of the Kung Foundation, said: "Now that Bishop Su has
reappeared and found very sick, the Chinese government should immediately
release him to the care of his family," Kung said. "While preparing for the
Olympic Games, China would do well to demonstrate to the world that it
sincerely respects all principles of peace and humanitarianism, and not
perpetuate such a violation of human rights just 80 miles from Beijing."
11/14/03 China (Compass) —
Bishop Ting, the
most influential leader of the state-controlled Chinese “Three Self”
Protestant church, has significantly stepped up his anti-Christian
“theological construction” campaign in recent months. A lecture delivered at
the East China Theological Seminary in Shanghai entitled “Theological
Construction Enters a New Stage” (published in Tianfeng magazine in September
2003) clearly shows that “theological construction” is a smoke screen for an
attack on the beliefs of Bible-believing Chinese evangelicals. Critical of
19th century missionaries who came to China for “linking the question of
belief and unbelief with heaven and hell,” Ding insists that such beliefs
intimidate people. “We Chinese Christians must unite with all the people of
China and not be disunited with other people because they do not believe,” he
states. “We must remold Chinese Christianity to become a Christianity which …
will be welcomed by the Chinese Communist Party and is compatible with
socialism.”
11/11/03 China-
China Aid Another Prominent
House Church Christian Dr, Xu Yong-hai Arrested Philadelphia (Nov. 10. 2003)
At 8am on Sunday Nov. 9,2003, Dr Xu Yong-hai, a Psychiatrist at Pingan
Hospital in Beijing was arrested near his hospital along with his wife Li
Shan-na after they finished their night duty ready to home. They were taken to
a Fensheng PSB Office of Chaoyang district. According to Ms. Li Shan-na who
was released at 4pm the same day, they were taken away by three police cars.
She was questioned about the activities of Mr. Liu Feng-gang, a BJ house
church activist who is still being held since Oct 13, 03 in an unknown
location at Xiaoshan PSB, Zhejiang Province because of his accused "activities
of revealing national secrets." Ms. Li also told us over the phone that Dr Xu
was accused " as a suspect of espionage the national secrets" in collaborating
with Liu Feng-gang who is still being held since his arrest on Oct. 13, 2003.
This charge is totally baseless according to those of us who know them well.
Ms. Li also told us that before she was released she was permitted to meet Dr
Xu for a few minutes with police's presence and she was told by Dr Xu that
according to the detention warrant paper he saw, his arrest was issued
by PSB Office of Xiaoshan, Zhejiang province.
11/3/03 China-
China Aid, Bob Fu Chinese House
Church Historian Sentenced To Two-year’s Re-Education through Labor
Mr. Zhang Yi-nan, a Chinese house-church writer and historian, has been
sentenced to two years of “re-education through labor”—by the Re-education
Through Labor Commission of Ping Ding Shan County in Henan Province. He was
allowed to see his wife at the gate of the Lu Shan County Detention Center at
10 a.m. this morning, then escorted to a police car and driven away to an
undisclosed labor camp. Zhang was arrested on September 26 and charged with
“subverting the Chinese government and socialist order.”
The Commission apparently used Zhang’s personal prayer journal against him,
quoting sections like, “We ask the Lord to destroy the strongholds in China.”
He also wrote out prayers that God would destroy Atheistic organizations in
China. Those words, according to local PSB official Li Hai Tao, constituted
“anti-Party, anti-Socialist” writings. “This is an extraordinary charge to a
Christian leader who has been known doing nothing but preaching and writing
for the church,” said CAA president Bob Fu. CAA condemns this illegal
decision with strongest terms. It’s both against the Chinese Constitution on
the protection of citizen’s freedom speech and religious belief and a clear
violation of the relevant international UN human rights laws that bear the
signature of the Chinese government.
CAA
urges people of faith around the globe to protest this unjust sentence.
The Re-education Through Labor Commission of Lu Shan County can be reached
by calling (from the US) 011-86-375-2924123, extension 23050.
A photo of Mr. Zhang Yi-nan will be sent upon request.
The Chinese embassy in Washington DC can be contacted at:
Ambassador Yang Jiechi
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC 20008
Tel:(202) 328-2500 Fax:(202) 588-0032
Director of Religious Affairs: (202) 328-2512
email:
chinaembassy_us@fmprc.gov.cn
September 3 –
170 house church
Christians were arrested in Central Eastern Asia when a worship service was
interrupted by the authorities. The majority were fingerprinted, fined, and
released, but fourteen church leaders are still being held and could be
imprisoned.
July 15, 2003 -
Pastor Gong (see June 11 , 2003 and
Sept. 22nd, 2002 and Jan. 2002) was still alive but extremely frail and
thin. He had been permitted to see two visitors. However during the
supervised visit, he was separated from the visitors by glass. During the
visit, he did not speak to the visitors. It is unclear if his not speaking
was a form of protesting his treatment or from a guard's command not to speak
or if physical beatings had left him unable to communicate. Since the
visit, Pastor Gong was moved to Hong Shan Prison, Wu Chang District, Wuhan
City, Hubei Province and was being held in solitary confinement. (China Aid
Foundation)
June 15, 2003 -
A house church in Lisoning province was raided and 40 Christians were
tied up and arrested. The Christians were released later the same day but were told their
"illegal gathering" was prohibited. (VOM/Religion Today)
July 14 and
22, 2003 –
Five believers were detained at Jingmen City, Hubei province. They
were being held at Shayand Detention Center, Hubei province. (ANS/WEA
July 13,
2003 –
A house church prayer meeting held in Xiaoshan district, Hangzhou City,
Zhejiang province was raided at 4 a.m. by the PSB (Public Security Bureau).
Six house church leaders were detained at the Lan Tian Hotel. (ANS/WEA)
July
7, 2003
Six house church leaders are sentenced to one and a half and two years
of re-education through labor. (ANS/WEA)
June
28, 2003
Eighty believers were arrested when police raided a funeral in
Hunan province. (ANS/WEA)
June 11, 2003 -
Relatives of imprisoned South China Church leader, Pastor Gong Shengliang, were informed by a source at the Jingzhou Prison that if they wanted to see
Pastor Gong alive, they had better do something immediately. Gong's health has been
failing due to internal injuries caused repeated beatings. He has been in a coma several
times and is passing blood in his urine and stool. Thus far he has been denied proper
medical care and family members have been denied visits on the pretext of SARS concerns.
(ANS/WEA)
June 6, 2003 -
A dozen worshippers were arrested in a raid of four homes in Funing
County, Yunnan province. At least eight of those arrested have been sent to re-education
through labor camps without trial. (VOM/BBC)
April 4, 2003 -
Asia Harvest reported that 120 house church leaders from the Local
Church were arrested. Twenty members were later released but 100 remain in custody.
Although some branches of the Local Church are considered heretical by Bible-believing
Christians, at least 60% are believed to hold to the tenets of orthodox Christianity.
(VOM)
January 7, 2003 -
Philip Xu's mother was notified that her son has been given an
18-month re-education through labor sentence (see December 8, 2002 below).
January 5, 2003 -
Ten unidentified men burst into the home of Brother Hau Huiqi in
Beijing and forced his family to lie down on the floor and proceeded to beat them. Hua's
80-year-old father suffered a broken leg in the attack. The men also confiscated the
family's heaters, leaving them without heat in below-zero temperatures. (VOM)
For
More China Incidents. . .Click Here
Suggested Actions You Might Take:
- Pray for the Christians of China that they may be protected from harm and that the
Christian message may be heard and received by all. Pray especially for the security and
well being of the underground house church leaders who are currently in prison for their
faith.
- Write a respectful letter to one or more of the government officials listed below.
Express your continuing concern for the safety and well being of the Christian community
in China. Request information about what steps the government is taking to ensure their
protection and freedom to practice their faith as laid out in the UN’s Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights documents.
- Contact the elected national officials (Senators, Congressman etc.) for your area as
well as the U.S. State Department and express concern for the well being of the Christians
in China asking them to make an inquiry into their status.
Please keep us informed of any replies or results you may receive! Contact ICC by email
at
icc@persecution.org.
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