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| The ruins of Dali Christian Church lay in the early morning of Jan. 27 after the raid. |
China Aid
Translated by Carolyn Song.
Updated at 3:48 p.m. on Jan. 30, 2017
(Zhengzhou, Henan—Jan. 27, 2017) A front loader carved away half of a four-story, state-run church building in China’s central Henan province this morning, pulverizing several facilities while Christians remained locked in an office space inside.
Early on Jan. 27, intruders hired by the government forcibly entered Dali Christian Church, a Three-Self congregation, carrying clubs. They locked a church elder, surnamed Ding, the church’s temporary director, and several other Christians in the reception office, confiscated their cell phones, and threw away their SIM cards. No one was allowed to enter the church, and authorities forbade pictures.
The intruders then smashed and looted church property, and a front loader crumbled about half of the building, destroying many facilities.
This occurrence sparked fears that the church and cross demolitions, which were symptomatic of a “beautification” campaign in Zhejiang province and targeted many Three-Self Churches, will soon erupt into a nationwide endemic of abuse against government churches.
China Aid reports abuses, such as those experienced by the members of Dali Christian Church, in order to stand with the persecuted and promote religious freedom, human rights, and rule of law.
ChinaAid Media Team
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