Religious freedom
for all in China
ChinaAid is an international non-profit Christian human rights organization committed to promoting religious freedom and the rule of law in China.
We believe that
religious freedom is the first freedom...
This freedom lays the foundation for all other basic human rights. By exposing the abuses, encouraging the abused, and spiritually and legally equipping the leaders to defend their faith and freedom, ChinaAid strives to promote religious freedom for all.
Our history
For 20 years, ChinaAid has worked to expose human rights abuses and promote truth, justice and freedom by advocating for religious freedom and the rule of law in China.
Simple Timeline
Detailed Timeline
2004 - 2007
ChinaAid moved its offices to Midland, TX while providing legal assistance for multiple victims of unlawful imprisonment in China. ChinaAid also published its first Annual Report on Persecution of Chinese House Churches.
2008 - 2010
ChinaAid provided legal assistance for Chinese house churches and ran campaigns for the release of Chinese prisoners. ChinaAid founder Bob Fu was awarded the John Leland Religious Liberty Award and met with President George W. Bush, along with four other human rights activists.
2011 - 2014
ChinaAid brought awareness to various imprisonment situations and human rights violations in China, including testifying at a European Union human rights forum. Bob Fu’s memoir God’s Double Agent was released in 2013, and ChinaAid rallied and equipped human rights lawyers to represent victims of religious freedom cases throughout China.
2015 - 2017
In the face of escalating persecution of Christians in China, ChinaAid worked to assist lawyers and their families in the battle to defend freedom in China. ChinaAid also held trainings to equip persecuted Christians with the theological and legal knowledge to defend their rights and lead congregations.
2018-2022
ChinaAid has exposed the mass incarcerations of church congregants in China, founded the Coalition to Advance Religious Freedom in China (CARFC), continued to meet with U.S. political leaders, and rescued persecuted individuals from China. In 2022, ChinaAid celebrated its 20th anniversary as an organization with a strong presence and future in bringing religious freedom to China.
2004
ChinaAid’s offices were moved from Philadelphia to Midland, Texas. In the same year, ChinaAid advocated and provided legal assistance for Pastor Cai Zhuohua, whose original 15-year sentence was reduced to a three-year sentence. ChinaAid also provided legal aid to the Xiaoshan House Church.
2005
The Chinese government revoked attorney Gao Zhisheng’s license to practice law. In August 2006, Gao was kidnapped by the Chinese government. ChinaAid led the international community in the appeal for Gao’s release.
2006
2007
ChinaAid provided legal aid for the Xiaoshan House Church case, in which three Christians were sentenced for “supplying intelligence to foreign organizations” and the case of Shi Wiehan, who was tortured for not providing information on other Christian leaders.
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
ChinaAid partnered with former Taiwanese Vice President Annette Lu to hold the Asia-Pacific Religious Freedom Forum (APRFF) in February 2016, which convened numerous prominent religious freedom advocates to discuss religious freedom conditions in Asia. In addition, ChinaAid held trainings and conferences aimed at equipping persecuted Christians with the theological and legal knowledge required to effectively defend their rights and lead their congregations.
In April 2016, ChinaAid broke the news of the murder and martyrdom of Ding Cuimei, a Christian woman buried alive for defending her church from a demolition caused by a land dispute. The resulting international media attention successfully pressured the local government to rule that the church could keep its land.
2017
2018
ChinaAid pioneered reporting on the mass incarceration of ethnic minority people in Xinjiang. On December 9, 2018, ChinaAid exposed a mass crackdown on the heavily persecuted Early Rain Covenant Church where CCP authorities took more than 100 congregants into custody.
2019
ChinaAid re-established a Washington D.C. office and founded the Coalition to Advance Religious Freedom in China (CARFC). ChinaAid also co-hosted the Taiwan International Religious Freedom Forum and rescued persecuted human rights lawyer Chen Jiangang and family to the United States.
2020
William Lai, then Vice-President Elect of Taiwan, a guest of Bob Fu at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C., met with Senator Marco Rubio and other Congressional leaders. This meeting represented one of the most historic breakthroughs in Taiwan-U.S. relations.
2021
ChinaAid directly rescued Wang Jingyu and Wu Huan to the Netherlands after both faced persecution in several nations across the world. Wu told the Associated Press about her time in a CCP-run extralegal black jail in Dubai, which the AP said might be “the first evidence that China is operating a so-called black site beyond its borders.” Direct ChinaAid support also led to the safe arrival of a persecuted Uyghur Christian family to a Western country and the arrival of Gulzira Auelkhan and family to the United States.
2022
In September, ChinaAid celebrated its 20th Anniversary with a dinner event featuring Bob Fu, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, and Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick. Across the year, ChinaAid hosted a Protest For Freedom in DC to call for a boycott of the 2022 Beijing Olympics, welcomed CCP concentration camp survivor Ovalbek Turdakun and family to the USA, hosted a summer camp filled with spiritual renewal for persecuted families, and continued critical advocacy work for the safety of the exiled Mayflower Church.
Our leadership
Bob Fu, Founder
Bob (Xiqiu) Fu is one of the leading voices in the world for persecuted faith communities in China. Fu was born and raised in mainland China and was a student leader during the Tiananmen Square demonstrations for freedom and democracy in 1989.
Fu graduated from the School of International Relations at the People’s (Renmin) University in Beijing and taught English to Communist Party officials at the Beijing Administrative College and Beijing Party School of the Chinese Communist Party from 1993-1996. Fu was also a house church leader in Beijing until he and his wife, Heidi, were imprisoned for two months for “illegal evangelism” in 1996. Bob and Heidi fled to the United States as religious refugees in 1997 and subsequently founded ChinaAid in 2002 to bring international attention to China’s gross human rights violations and to promote religious freedom and rule of law in China.
As president of ChinaAid, Fu has testified before the Congressional Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (USCHR), the Foreign Press Association, the European Commission and European Union Parliament.
Fu regularly briefs the State Department and Members of Congress, including Members of the International Religious Freedom Caucus, on the status of religious freedom and the rule of law in China. In 2008, Fu was invited to the White House to brief President George W. Bush on religious freedom and human rights in China, and in 2011, the Nobel Prize Committee recognized Fu’s efforts with an invitation to attend the award ceremony for Nobel Laureate Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.
Fu graduated with a Ph.D. from St. John’s College at the University of Durham in the U.K. in the field of religious freedom and from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He has also been awarded an honorary doctorate degree on Global Christian Leadership from Midwest University, where he served as a distinguished professor on religion and public policy.
Bob also serves as the Family Research Council’s Senior Fellow for International Religious Freedom in addition to responsibilities as President of ChinaAid. He is the recipient of the 2020 William Wilberforce Award from the Colson Center for Christian Worldview.
Fu’s autobiography God’s Double Agent details his conversion to Christianity, his arrest and imprisonment for starting an illegal house church, his harrowing escape, and his subsequent rise to prominence in the United States as an advocate for his oppressed brethren.
His second book, The Politics of Inclusive Pluralism, outlines his proposed foundation for religious freedom in a post-Communist democratic China.
Advisory Board
ChinaAid’s advisory board is filled with high-impact individuals who bring wisdom and effectiveness to our religious freedom initiatives.
Our Partners
ChinaAid appreciates and values the following organizations as partners in advocating for religious freedom, human rights, and rule of law in China.
The Freedom Circle
The Freedom Circle is an exclusive donors and partners group that drives the mission of ChinaAid forward.
Our team
Meet the passionate people behind ChinaAid’s daily work to advocate for religious freedom.
Statement of faith
The Apostles' Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Maker of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
The third day He arose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost;
the holy Christian church;
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body;
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
FAQs
What does your organization do?
ChinaAid provides assistance to persecuted people groups and rights activists located in China. We accomplish these goals via our 3 E’s: exposing the abuses, encouraging the abused, and equipping leaders of persecuted groups.
ChinaAid exposes the oppression by writing news stories on them in both English and Chinese. We also have an advocacy initiative, in which we testify in front of prominent policymakers and government bodies, including the U.S. Congress and the United Nations. For more information, please click here.
Often, persecution also puts families under duress. In order to encourage the abused, we developed our Family of Prisoners fund, which provides for their various needs. One example of this is the Lin Zhao Freedom Award, which grants a cash prize to people who have made great sacrifices for their promotion of freedom and democracy.
ChinaAid also equips people undergoing persecution by providing theological and legal training for them. This gives them the spiritual fortitude to withstand oppression while facing their legal battles with knowledge of their full rights according to both Chinese and international law.
How can I get more involved?
Share our stories on social media, tell your friends, and write to your representatives (Add links for ways to find representatives)! We highly encourage people to spread the word about what is happening in China. This puts pressure on the Chinese government and allows more individuals and world leaders to take a stand against the persecution. Every voice counts!
If you want to give to our work, please click here.
To receive daily updates, please click here.
To sign up for our newsletter, please click here.
If you are interested in potential volunteer or work opportunities, please e-mail your resume to [email protected]
For interviews or other media requests, please contact [email protected].
To have someone from the organization potentially come to speak at your event, e-mail [email protected].
For Bob Fu’s book, God’s Double Agent, please click here.
For our Annual Persecution Reports and Top 10 Cases, please click here.
For all other inquiries, please contact [email protected] or call our office line at (432) 689-6985.
Are you affiliated with a government?
No, ChinaAid is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, meaning we are an entirely separate entity. As such, we do not give out government-sponsored aid.
Why does it matter if the US government speaks out in favor of religious freedom and rule of law in China?
Because China wants to be considered a world power, they closely follow what governments and officials say about the current state of China. This is evidenced by how China relies on propaganda on an international scale and the use of the Great Firewall in China to try to maintain control over the Chinese Communist Party’s image.
As such, speaking out is absolutely critical. Otherwise, China’s abuses will go unnoticed, just as they want them to.
Does advocating for prisoners of conscience really make a difference?
Yes! One of the most important impacts of advocacy is the hope that it brings the prisoners that they aren’t forgotten. To actively have people working to get you out and reminding the world of your story can make all the difference in the prisoner’s ability to withstand persecution.
For instance, some of those we’ve advocated for, such as Lawyer Li Heping, were treated better in prison after the media learned about his case. Another attorney, Zhang Kai, was released shortly after ChinaAid reported on his situation!
ANNUAL
PERSECUTION REPORT
ChinaAid publishes an annual persecution report as part of its mission to uncover and reveal the truth about religious persecution in China. Read our most recent reports to learn more.