China Aid Association
Pastor Lou Yuanqi, of Yili, traveled to Beijing to visit family around July 7 when authorities in the airport detained him. According to Zhang Shengqi, a Bejing-based family friend, Lou called his family after he was detained. Upon further inquiry, family members learned that the Yili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture Domestic Security Protection Squad and the neighborhood police station had contacted Beijing police, asking them to detain Lou at the airport.
“[Church members] called the local police station, and the police said Pastor Lou had already left,” Zhang said. “At that time, we couldn’t be certain whether Pastor Lou left the police station by himself or whether he was taken away by Xinjiang police.
“Later, I called and got through to a coworker at a church in Xinjiang who said the police station investigated [Lou] the whole night. After [police] were sure that Pastor Lou was not in Beijing to petition the high authorities, they let him leave the airport police station. However, people could still not get through to Pastor Lou on his phone,” Zhang said.
Kuerle
The six—Dai Jin, Deng Wenjun, Shi Chuanxin, Peng Jun, Tian Yang, Wang Ruyu—were taken into custody for “proselytizing religion to students.”
“The authorities think they were engaging in religious activity. However, it was the parents who convinced the church to hold the students’ summer camp to give the children and education in ethics,” one believer said. “They were not engaging in the so-called religious activities.”
Urumqi
China Aid Contacts
Rachel Ritchie, English Media Contact
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