China

China: Crackdown on House Churches

In January 2004, top cadres of China’s Religious Affairs Bureau and the policy-making United Front Work Department met for the annual National Religious Working Conference.

Chinese House Churches Agonize Over Registration

Registration is still a hot issue for China’s long-suffering house churches. The government insists on registration as the only means of legal existence for Protestant and Catholic churches. In practice, registration means subjection to the Communist Party’s Religious Affairs Bureau and other party organs, all of which are controlled by atheists.

Bishop Ding Steps Up Attacks on the Gospel in China

Bishop Ding, the most influential leader of the state-controlled Chinese “Three Self” Protestant church, has significantly stepped up his anti-Christian “theological construction” campaign in recent months.

China: Zhang beaten on first day in labor camp; Christian woman killed

Chinese Christian Zhang Yi-nan was badly beaten by fellow inmates last Monday at the Ping Ding Shan City Lao Dong Jiao Yang Suo. It was Zhang’s first day as an inmate at the “re-education through labor” facility where he is serving a two-year sentence.

China: House Church Raid & Update on Pastor Gong

At 4 a.m. on Sunday morning 13 July, officers of the Chinese Public Security Bureau (PSB) raided a house church prayer meeting in Xiao Shan City, Zhejiang Province. The prayer meeting was broken up, the Christians assaulted, and three leaders were arrested. One of those arrested was Shao Cheng Shen (80), who co-founded the church 25 years ago. The church, which now has some 1,500 members, is linked to “The Little Flock” of Watchman Nee.

Three more Christians arrested in China

Mr. Xiao Bi-guang and Mr. Zhang Yi-nan were arrested last Friday morning in Ping Ding Shan city, Henan Province, China. Sources in China reported that more than 20 Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers made the arrest. The location where the two men are being held is unknown at this time. Their families have received no official notification, in violation of Chinese law which says the family of arrested persons will be notified of their location within 24 hours after arrest.

Chinese Officials Continue Campaign Against Underground Christians

The spread of the SARS virus has not distracted Chinese officials from their campaign against unregistered churches. At least 52 key house church leaders have been arrested in recent months. Police also arrested and fined hundreds of “ordinary” Christians in the first four months of 2003.

Three House Church Leaders Imprisoned In China

On July 13, police raided a house church in Xiaoshan City, Zhejiang province, China, and arrested at least three church leaders. According to a China Aid Association press release dated July 24, the raid came at 4 a.m. on a Sunday morning while the Christians were meeting for prayer and worship.

A Story Of Imprisonment, Torture – But Also A Story Of Faith, Hope

(Probably 80 percent of the house church leaders in China know or have heard the name of this house church leader, but he asked that his name not be used. Possibly as many as 2 million Christians are involved in his house church network. He has been arrested several times and imprisoned a total of 10 years for his faith in Jesus Christ. He spoke recently with an Open Doors team. The following is his testimony.)

Chinese Pastor on the Run

(Voice of the Martyrs) — A Chinese house church leader is on the run from Public Security Bureau officers after his church was raided February 9.

Chinese Christian Family Beaten and Left in the Cold

At about 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 5, 2003, approximately 10 unidentified men burst into the home of Brother Hua Huiqi and his wife, Ju Mei in Beijing. Forcing all of the members of the household, including Hua’s elderly parents, to lay on the floor, the attackers savagely beat the family, breaking one of the legs of Hua’s 80-year-old father. They then confiscated all of the home’s portable heaters, leaving the family to suffer from the cold of winter. It is believed that the intruders were either sent by the police or could even have been plain-clothes policemen.

Families of South China Church prisoners complain of injustice

The letter outlines inconsistencies between the way the retrial was handled by judges of the Jingmen City Middle Court and the mandates of China’s criminal court statutes. “The families of all the victims feel deeply sad and worried about the result,” the letter states. Complete text of the letter is available on the VOM web site at www.persecution.com.

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