House Church Crackdown Occuring in China
Arrests in Shandong and Jiangsu; One South Korea Missionary Expelled from China;
China Aid is reporting that in the past two weeks multiple arrests of house church pastors occurred at Shandong and Jiangsu Provinces. One pastor from South Korea was expelled by the Chinese security agency. A prominent Chinese legal scholar and rights defender was forbidden to go abroad.
An eyewitness report that House Church Pastor Liu Yuhua was arrested at 11pm on April 26, 2006 at Shandong Province . He has been under criminal detention at the Detention Center of Linchu County, Shandong Province . In the Criminal detention paper issued to Pastor Lius family by the PSB of Linchu County, Pastor Liu was accused being involved in illegal business practices. He has been printing and distributing bibles and other Christian literature to fellow believers free of charge to meet the rapid growth of believers.
According to a reliable source, Pastor Lius office was searched without warrant, his bank account seized and cash in the amount of 8600 Yuan ($1100) was confiscated. Legal experts say this case is very similar to Beijing Pastor Cai Zhuohuas case. Pasor Cai was sentenced in 2005 to three years imprisonment for printing Christian literature. The Chinese government tries to persecute religious leaders by criminalizing their religious activities. Mr. Gao Zhisheng, a prominent lawyer whose law firm was closed last year by the Chinese government because of his volunteer work defending the rights of Pastor Liu Yuhua.
At 1:30pm on May 10, 11 pastors and house church leaders were arrested at #3 Chuyuan Residence Region, Suqian City , Jiangsu Province. Aproximately 60 house church believers were engaged in a bible study at Pastor Cai Zhirongs house when the raid occurred. According to an eyewitness report, the PSB officers used electric shock batons to beat those believers who refused to be taken away because the police didnt have an arrest warrant. After 10 hours of intensive interrogation, all 11 pastors including South Korean Pastor Cui Rongbo (Korean name unavailable) along with his two translators Pastor Cai Zhirong and Pastor Wu Changle were released. However, on May 11, South Korean Pastor Cui was taken away again by the Chinese authority and ordered to leave China within 48 hours. Pastor Cui left China on May 13.
A prominent legal scholar Dr. Fan Yafeng was forbidden to go abroad. Dr. Fan is a researcher at China Academy of Social Sciences, a top think tank run by the Chinese government. At 12:30pm on May 9, Dr. Fan was informed by the customs security official at Beijing Capital Airport that he has been put on a list of names that are forbidden to go abroad by a higher authority. Dr. Fan was on his way to the United States to attend a meeting with President Bush. He was not allowed to attend the Freedom in China Summit on May 2 at the Hudson Institute because of obstacles put in place by the Chinese authorities.
This new wave of arrests is certainly a contradiction to the Chinese governments commitment to religious freedom, said Rev. Bob Fu of China Aid, We urge the Chinese government to take concrete actions to demonstrate the true spirit of rule of law.
Communicate your concern to the Chinese authority at the following address:
Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong,
Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC 20008
http://www.china-embassy.org/
TEL: 202-7456743
Fax: 202- 588-0032; 202-7457473
Director of Religious Affairs: (202) 328-2512
Premier Wen Jiabao, PRC
PO Box 1741, The State Council, Beijing, PRC (zip code 100017)
Contact Phone：+86-10-66012399
Email：gazette@mail.gov.cn
Ms. Wu Aiying, minister of Ministry of Justice of PRC
Tel: +86-10-65205114
Fax: +86-10-64729863
Email: pufamaster@legalinfo.gov.cn
Address：No. 10, Nan Da Jie, Chaoyangmen, Beijing City (Zip Code: 100020)
