China Aid Association
(Yichun, Heilongjiang–March 6, 2013) A house church pastor who traveled to northeast China to visit another house church pastor injured in a beating last month by government officials was held in his hotel room on Wednesday and barred from visiting the wounded clergy.
Pastor Zhan Gang, vice president of the Chinese House Church Alliance, traveled from coastal Shandong province to Yichun to visit Pastor Sun Wenxian, who had been badly beaten by local officials and was hospitalized. But he was prevented from leaving the guesthouse where he was staying by more than 10 Domestic Security Protection agents and religious affairs officials, who conducted a videotaped interrogation.
They also threatened him and ordered him not to hold any kind of evangelistic meeting, not to have any contact with any house church believer in the city of Yichun, and to leave before noon the next day. At the time that ChinaAid issued the Chinese-language report, guards were still posted outside Pastor Zhan’s room to keep him from leaving.
See these earlier reports on the beating of Pastor Sun: https://chinaaid.org/2013/02/vicious-persecution-of-churches-in.html
https://chinaaid.org/2013/02/updates-pastor-of-church-in.html
ChinaAid is shocked that the Yichun city government would continue to attack church clergy while the national legislature is in session and condemns their actions. ChinaAid urges the local authorities to immediately release Pastor Zhan, and to redress the persecution of Pastor Sun as soon as possible by abiding by the law and holding those government workers legally responsible for their actions. At the same time, we call on churches throughout China to feel the pain suffered by these members of the body and to pray for them with one accord. ChinaAid will continue to monitor these two inter-related persecution cases.
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
