ICC Note: Pastor John Cao has been wrongly imprisoned by the Chinese government since March 2017 for his work in Myanmar. He was charged with “organizing illegal border crossing” and was sentenced to seven-year of imprisonment and a $3000 fine. China Aid will launch an online petition campaign to bring him home on August 2.
07/19/2018 China (China Aid) – North Carolina resident and pastor John Cao has been wrongly held in a Chinese prison for more than a year. As he crossed between Myanmar and China on March 5, 2017—a route he took often while establishing schools for impoverished children—Cao and his colleague, Jing Ruxia, were detained and charged with “organizing illegal border crossing.”
For almost a year, the two of them remained imprisoned without trial. While Jing went free shortly after her sentencing on Feb. 9, 2018, Chinese courts handed Cao a seven-year sentence and fined him approximately $3,000. To this day, he is still imprisoned, separated from his wife, American citizen Jamie Powell, and sons, who all reside in the United States.
Since Cao often similarly crossed the border without incident, ChinaAid believes Chinese authorities unjustly framed him because of his religious beliefs. In response, we are launching a White House petition on Aug. 2 to call upon the U.S. officials to pressure China to release him and allow him to be reunited with his wife and sons.
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For interviews with Gina Goh, ICC’s Regional Manager, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: press@persecution.org.
