Chinese Christians on Wednesday, July 1, were awaiting the international community to “pray and act” on behalf of jailed Christian house church leader Shi Weihan and six of his associates who have been sentenced to prison terms for allegedly printing Bibles and Christian books without government approval, their supporters said.
More than a dozen house church leaders and Christians in two Chinese provinces were free Tuesday, June 30, after they were released by authorities from detention amid international pressure, Chinese Christians said.
News that China released a Christian woman after serving over two and a half years in prison for protesting the destruction of a mega-church has been overshadowed by the ongoing detention of Christians in a similar case, Chinese Christians and rights investigators said Wednesday, June 24.
At least six Christians from China’s Henan province were behind bars Thursday, June 18, after security forces stormed their house church following a similar raid on a house church in Sichuan province, Christian rights investigators said.
Over a dozen Chinese house church leaders faced another day of detention Saturday, June 13, and some of them the prospect of years imprisonment, after security forces raided a house church in China’s Sichuan province, Christians said. There was also concern over the whereabouts of a prominent human rights lawyer after a Chinese official spoke about his alleged kidnapping by security forces.
A court in Beijing found Christian bookstore owner and house church leader ,Shi Weihan, guilty of “illegal business operation” and sentenced him to three years in prison and fined him 150,000 Yuan fine ($22,000) for printing and distributing Bibles for free, his defense team and Christian supporters said Thursday, June 11.
Christian leaders and rights advocates have expressed concerns over the situation of Christian prisoners and other reported human rights violations in China, and urged Washington increase pressure on Beijing, 20 years after the Tiananmen Square “massacre”.
The mother of imprisoned Uyghur Christian Alimujiang Yimitihas urged the international community to help “rescue her son” after learning that China’s main law enforcement agency plans to sentence her son “secretly to three years of re-education through labor” because of his Christian activities.
Amid international pressure Chinese authorities have released early the last 16 Christians of a house church group who remained detained in Henan province, their supporters confirmed Monday, May 25.
A group of Chinese house church Christians, including key leaders, remained detained in China’s Henan province Tuesday May 5, after security forces raided a house church in Xinye city, rights investigators said.
Chinese Christian Shi Weihan, the owner of a Christian bookstore and a well-known house church leader, remained detained Friday, April 17, after a Beijing court refused to immediately rule on his future, trial observers said.
Worthy News Asia Service
BEIJING, CHINA (Worthy News)– A house church leader and founder of a Christian bookstore, who has been detained since last year for the “illegal distribution of Bibles and Christian literature,” was to stand trial Wednesday, April 9, Chinese Christians said.
Abducted Chinese Christian human rights attorney Gao Zhisheng was missing 50 days on Thursday, March 26, amid “increasing concern for his life,” human rights investigator said.
A Chinese court has postponed the trial of an owner of Christian bookstore, who has been detained since last year for the “illegal distribution of Bibles and Christian literature,” well-informed observers told Worthy News Monday, March 23.
The wife of a detained Christian in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Antonymous Region said Tuesday, March 17, she has not heard from her husband for nearly ten months because authorities do not allow her to meet him.
One of China’s prominent law firms, known for defending house churches and other human rights cases, was weighing its legal options Monday, March 9, after it was forced to shut down for six months for “illegally” hiring a Christian attorney.
A well-known house church pastor in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region remained behind bars Monday, March 9, despite a court ruling saying there was “insufficient evidence” to hold him, Christians said.
Chinese authorities have released the last four house church leaders who were among dozens of evangelical officials detained in Central China this month, an advocacy group told Worthy News Tuesday, February 24.
Over 60 Christian leaders, including two South Korean pastors and an elderly well-known evangelical believer, were detained in Central China as part of a crackdown on unauthorized worship, a religious advocacy group said Wednesday, February 18.
Chinese Christian activist Hua Zaichen, who became known for helping reportedly persecuted Christians, has died in a Beijing hospital, shortly after his wife was released from prison, his supporters confirmed to Worthy News Monday, February 16. Hua was 91 years old.