China Aid Association
(Midland, Texas-November 7, 2005) CAA learned 6 house church leaders from Henan Province were arrested on November 6 during Sunday worship with approximately 100 believers.
According to an eyewitness report, at 10 am the house church at Nantan Village, Wuquan Town, Wuyang County, Henan Province was raided by 8 police officials from the Public Security Bureau and Religious Affair Bureau of Wuyang County in two police vehicles. The “illegal religious gathering” was ordered to stop. Then six of the church leaders were arrested and detained in the county detention center. The names of the church leaders are Mr. Yuan Quansan Mr. Zhang Xiaowu, Mr. He Zhanying, Mr. Wang Jinzhong, Mr. X Guangwei (last name unknown) and another pastor whose name is not available. According to the latest information, up until the morning of November 7, four were released and two leaders including Yuan Quansan and Guang Wei are still in detention. The PSB officials told the two they won’t be released until they guarantee their house church stopping gathering or joining the official sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic organization. Several items of church property including a tape recorder were confiscated without issuing any receipts. The raided church is believed to be part of Fangcheng Mother Church group (also known as China for Christ church) whose leader pastor Zhang Rongliang has been imprisoned without trial since December 2004.
Meanwhile, CAA received reliable reports stating that approximately a dozen house church leaders were arrested in various cities in Hunan Province since July of this year. They belong to a well known house church group called China Gospel Fellowship. For the first time, CAA learned some of these church leaders were given an unknown drug by the State Security agents in order to get internal information and disclosure of the location of a confidential Christian literature store house belonging to the church. Some leaders were tortured and forced to spy on the church. One 22-year-old lady named Fei Xiang (alias) along with her husband Xiao Cao (alias) were both tortured and drugged by the agents of State Security Bureau of Hunan Province. The first thing she told her husband after they were released was “let’s die together!” Both are still recovering from the torture. According to at least one written account by another female church leader, her family members would be killed if she refused to spy for the security agents. Several victims were said to suffer psychological and mental duress.
“Once again the assault on unregistered house church worship in Henan Province shows a worrisome sign that the religious persecution in China is worsening,” said Bob Fu, CAA president. “The acts of brutal torture and drugging are totally unacceptable to the international human rights norms and even contradictory to Chinese law.”
CAA calls upon the world community to urge the Chinese government to immediately release these innocent Christian leaders. It’s time for China to live up to the commitments and treaties it has signed on religious freedom.
CAA asks people of conscience to show your concerns and write/call to the Chinese Embassy and Consulates in the US:
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington DC 20008
Tel:(202) 328-2500 Fax: (202) 588-0032
Director of Religious Affairs:
(202) 328-2512
Chinese Consulate General in Chicago, IL
Address: 100 West Erie Street, Chicago, IL 60610
Tel: (312) 803-0095
Fax: (312) 803-0110
Chinese Consulate General in Houston, TX
Address: 3417 Montrose Blvd., Houston, TX 77006
Tel: (713) 524-0780
Fax: (713) 524-7656
Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles, CA
Address: 443 Shatto Place, Los Angeles, CA 90020
Tel: (213) 807-8018
Fax: (213) 380-1961
Chinese Consulate General in New York, NY
Address: 520 12th Avenue, New York, NY 10036
Tel: (212) 244 9392
Fax: (212) 502 0258
Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco, CA
Address: 1450 Laguna St. San Francisco, CA 94115
Tel: (415) 674-2940
Fax: (415) 563-4861
Issued by China Aid Association, Inc. on November 6, 2005.
China Aid Contacts
Rachel Ritchie, English Media Director
Cell: (432) 553-1080 | Office: 1+ (888) 889-7757 | Other: (432) 689-6985
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.chinaaid.org