(Chengdu, Sichuan province) The Chengdu Municipal Security Bureau continued to take extreme measures to evict the four Christian families from Early Rain Covenant Church who rent in the same complex.
Harassment continues
On March 25, 2023, the private car of Xiao Luobiao, the deputy deacon of Early Rain, was vandalized. His tires were punctured, and a hole was smashed into the front windshield by a stone. The body of the car was sprayed with insulting and defamatory words and profanity. Xiao Luobiao’s wife, Chen Yan, went to the police station to report the case, but the police refused to file a case.
Photo: Xiao Lubiao’s car vandalized with profanity (ChinaAid source)
Eviction threats
Xu Jiachun, Shu Qiong, Xiao Luobiao, and Xuan Bin are all facing violent eviction threats. They all live in the same neighborhood community – the Languang Changdao International Community. The police officers, community personnel, property management, and other department workers work tirelessly to coerce these families to move out. They repeatedly punctured car tires, cut off their electricity, threatened them verbally, and even coerced the landlords to unilaterally terminate rental agreements. Authorities employed unknown individuals to “clear” the apartments using brute force.
“Relatives” of the landlord
The Jiujiang Police Station in Shuangliu District, the community personnel, and these thugs with unknown backgrounds all threatened these families on March 24. At around 10 AM, seven or eight people claimed to be “relatives” of the landlord and came to Xiao Luobiao and Chen Yan’s apartment. These unidentified individuals asked the family to leave, so Chen Yan used a loudspeaker behind the door to ask the landlord’s “relatives” for their names and ID cards. They would not tell her their information and demanded they open their door first.
Chen Yan told the “relatives” and the property managers that nobody had the right to make her vacate the apartment. Even the police station could not intervene in civil disputes. She insisted on letting the court decide and enforce its ruling. The supposed relatives left soon after.
Unfortunate pattern
Recently, many Christian families of Early Rain Covenant Church have been violently persecuted by the government. Some were kicked out of their gatherings, some were summoned to the police station, and some had their freedom restricted.
Elder Li Yingqiang
For example, police forced Elder Li Yingqiang’s family members to move out and surveilled them at their home in Deyang.
Preacher Dai Zhichao
To hold Sunday service, Preacher Dai Zhichao’s family left their home on Friday and stayed at the homes of other church members. Eventually, police found the family and sent them back to their home, where they were under house arrest.
Early Rain’s statement
In view of this situation, Early Rain Covenant Church issued a solemn statement, part of which is found below:
Early Rain Covenant Church urges all members of the congregation to pray earnestly for this. We hope that no vicious incidents will happen. We ask the Lord to grant peace and harmony. I also implore all the members of the Lord’s Church to intercede on our behalf. They also hope to find enough Christian lawyers to help our church and the brothers and sisters here in a series of civil, administrative, and possibly criminal proceedings. Helping us to respond to persecution in a legal and professional manner. At the same time, we hope to raise enough funds to support the lawyers’ fees and travel expenses of the lawyers.
~Yu Bing, Special Correspondent of ChinaAid
