(Shanxi, China) On December 15, Shanxi Province Lvliang Municipal Intermediate People’s Court held the trial of Zhao Weikai, a coworker of Zion Reformed. He stood accused of “illegally possessing terrorism and extremism items.” The presiding judge interrupted Zhao’s testimony on the pretext that it was “not related” to the evidence in the case. Li Xin, Zhao Weikai’s wife, disclosed that seven strangers attended the trial and her husband looked well.
Zhao Weikai, 36 years old, is a coworker of Zion Reformed Church. He and Minister An Yankui became friends at a young age and attended Pastor Wang Yi’s West China Seminary together. Afterwards, they served the church together in Taiyuan. Zhao Weikai and Li Xin home schooled their children. They hoped to avoid indoctrination in atheistic public schools despite efforts from several departments.
On the morning of May 17, 2021, 20 police officers from the precinct entered Zhao Weikai’s home, taking him and other personal belongings. Over the course of five hours, authorities confiscated over 1,000 books Zhao collected, his cell phone, computer, hard drive, and thumb drive. Afterwards, they found documentaries about the Tiananmen Square Massacre and Riot in Xinjiang on his hard drive. On July 20, police officially arrested Zhao Weikai on a charge of “illegally possessing terrorism and extremism items.” Zhao is detained at Shanxi Lvliang Region Fangshan County Detention Center.
17 months passed from Zhao’s arrest to his trial. Minister An Yankui of Zion Reformed Church sent out a prayer request after Zhao Weikai was arrested, asking Chrisitans to intercede for Zhao and his family. Minister An Yankui, however, was arrested soon afterwards and sentenced to a year. He was released on November 21, 2022.
~Yu Bing, ChinaAid Contributing Reporter
