Beijing's Authorities Force House Church Leaders to Sign Covenant to Shut Down Church Services Durin

China Aid Association
The steady buildup of Persecution as the Olympic Games approach has taken its toll on Beijing’s House Churches. With the Olympic Games around the corner, the human rights situation in Beijing has increasingly degenerated, especially in the persecution of house churches.
From personal testimony, many house churches in Beijing are being harassed and even forced to shut down. Most recently Beijing Authorities have forced House Church Leaders to sign a covenant agreeing to shut down their churches from July 20 – September 20 until the end of the Para-lympic Games. Some have stopped their meetings and some are forced to sign a so-called security defense agreement with the Chinese Government. Both Shouwang Church and The Gospel Church of Beijing have been harassed for no apparent reason and the Yangqiao site of the Gospel Church in Beijing has been forced to shut down. Certainly, Hua Huiqi, who was able to stand up among the house churches in Beijing, has born the brunt of the persecution. Especially in recent days, the government has adopted many forms of persecution against Brother Hua Huiqi. Our Brother Hua Huiqi is a good brother of ours who stands firm in his belief, follows the intentions of God and refuses to stop gathering by following the teachings in the Bible. He is a good citizen who abides by the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China. Article 36 of the Constitution unequivocally provides freedom of belief; Article 37 provides personal freedom and Article 38 provides human dignity and protection. In violation of these provisions, the authorities in Beijing have intensified their crackdown in the name of the Olympic Games on house churches and Christians who do not follow the Government. The Beijing Christian Hua Huiqi is a typical example. Brother Hua Huiqi lives in his house in Dushi Garden in Chongwen District of Beijing. As authorities everywhere use the excuse of security defense, they threaten Hua Huiqi that he must cooperate with the government and provide the addresses and list of names of house churches and report to them the house churches that have stopped meeting. Brother Hua Huiqi is persecuted because he defends the Constitution, abides by the will of God that prohibits people from stopping meeting with each other.
The incident occurred at 8:30 on the evening of July 2 when Yang Jian, a member of the Homeland Security Defense Brigade of Chongwen Public Security Bureau, led a group of policemen and plain-clothed officers to 633, Unit 6, 6th Floor of Dushi Garden and conducted intense personal attacks on Brother Hua Huiqi. They harassed and verbally abused him and smashed open the door of Hua Huiqi’s house with a huge iron ax weighing a dozen of pounds. Using brutal force, they drove the whole family of Hua Huiqi to the courtyard of Dushi Garden. Among the people driven to the courtyard were his 90-year-old father and his frail brother. While they drove Hua’s folks to the courtyard, Hua Huilin, Hua’s brother, was injured in one of his eyes.  We have the rental agreement on the house we live in. Despite this incident, our Brother Hua tried to keep the dignity of the Constitution which clearly prohibits the conduct committed by the authorities. The policemen of the Chongwen District Government are persecuting Brother Hua in the name of security defense of the Olympic Games. We urge the brothers and sisters of the world to pray for Brother Hua Huiqi’s family and the cross he is carrying for the Lord. Please also pray for the freedom of belief in China and the Chinese Christians in tribulations. We beseech to the Lord to let Chinese Christians keep their belief pure in their tribulations.
Issued by CAA July 28, 2008