07/23/2020 China (International Christian Concern) – China’s ubiquitous security has always tracked citizens for a variety of purposes. Tracking Christian citizens has enabled authorities to raid house churches and arrest pastors. According to Department of Justice, Li Xiaoyu, 34, and Dong Jiazhi, 31, two accused state-sponsored cyperspies hacked into the personal data of dissidents, clergy, and human rights activists.
The same two Chinese hackers were accused of trying to steal U.S. Coronavirus information and were put on the FBI Wanted List on July 7, 2020. According to Fox News, they hacked the private email of a Chengdu house church pastor and gave the information to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that led to the pastor’s arrest shortly thereafter.
DOJ spokesperson Kerri Kupec told a Fox News host, “For instance, the Chinese government shut down a Christian house church, and within a week, these two individuals were hacking into this Chinese Christian pastor’s email account, gathered those emails, submitted [them] to the Chinese government, and the Chinese government then arrested that pastor.”
The two also “provided the […] [information of] the pastor of a Christian church in Xi’an, and a dissident and former Tiananmen Square protestor,” among others.
David Curry, President and CEO of Open Doors USA, said China’s security infringes upon the rights of their citizens. “I saw it with my own eyes the surveillance on the street but also in the churches, watching their congregation. Facial scans when you come in and then tracking you and generating reports,” he said. These reports allegedly were built into their AI system to track Christian behavior.
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