(Linfen, Shanxi Province – December 5, 2023) On the morning of November 30, Chen Ying, wife of Preacher Han Xiaodong of Linfen Covenant House Church, and Wen Huijuan, wife of Wang Qiang, along with their mother-in-laws, went to Yuncheng City Airport, preparing to take a plan to travel. Wen Huijuan’s children were also with them. They were followed by police cars all the way. After completing the boarding procedure and checking in their luggage, those people who followed them came to them with Yuncheng police. They showed Chen Ying a subpoena, and summoned her in the name of “suspected illegal organization of social groups.”
They took both Cheng Ying and Wen Huijuan to the airport interrogation room. Later, Chen Ying was taken back to Yaodu District Liucun Township Police Station for further interrogation. Before leaving the airport, Chen Ying embraced Li Shanshan and wept. Li Shanshan and Wen Huijuan comforted and encouraged Chen Ying not to be afraid, and waited for her outside Liucun Township Police Station.
Li Jie, Han Xiaodong, and Wang Qiang have been falsely accused of “fraud” due to their Christian belief and have been detained in Yaodu District Detention Center in Linfen for over a year and three months. Li Shanshan was on bail awaiting trial for a year. Her bail was terminated in August. Wen Huijuan encountered risk when she gave birth to her child at the end of last year, but her husband Wang Qiang could not accompany her in the hospital. Over the past year, the wives and mother-in-laws of these three imprisoned believers have experienced varying degrees of intimidation and coercion. To recover from the stress, the wives planned to take their mother-in-laws and children out for a few days and had already purchased plane tickets online. Unexpectedly, starting from this week, they were monitored by some people. On Monday and Tuesday, strangers came to their door, rang the doorbell, recorded videos, and left. From Wednesday morning at around 10:00 AM until noon , someone has been stationed outside their door 24 hours a day, taking turns.
This morning, when they left for the airport, a vehicle with plate number Jin (Shanxi) LZ5221 tracked them all the way. They even followed them in the airport, prevented them from finishing their boarding procedures, and didn’t allow them to leave. Sister Wen Huijuan, with her mother-in-law and a baby under one year old, was forcibly pulled out of the airport and taken away by the police but was later released.
After Wen Huijuan left the airport interrogation room, they recorded a video at the airport. Li Shanshan said, ‘Chen Ying’s mother-in-law’s blood pressure has flared up, and the baby in her arms also has a fever. They won’t refund our plane tickets, and they won’t let us go home. Let’s leave a video recording here, hoping that our husbands will be released soon. Our husbands are wrongly imprisoned and haven’t been released yet. They won’t let us travel; I really don’t understand what this means. Today is a very meaningful day; we haven’t done anything illegal, but they’ve harassed us, the elderly, and the children like this. I hope all of this is recorded in history.’
At around 7:00 PM, Chen Ying was released. She took a picture with Li Shanshan. On the same day, Yang Aiqing, wife of imprisoned Elder Zhang Chunlei of Guiyang Renai Reformed Church, also experienced a similar situation. Her attempt to go on travel was intercepted. Helplessly, she posted on social media, ‘November 30, 2023, Guiyang, rainy. I’m ready to travel, but encountered various blockades. Well, I’m going back home. I’ll travel another day.’
A lawyer angrily criticized the actions of the Linfen police, saying, ‘Is it illegal for these three families to take their mother-in-laws out for a break? Where can you find such good wives?! Linfen police, for the sake of stabilizing the case, don’t allow them to travel. But can’t you communicate openly and honestly with the families before stopping them from going out? Do you have to go through such despicable and elaborate maneuvers to harass and intimidate the families? Linfen police are really terrible!’
