China Aid Association
Updated at 3:20 CDT, May 27, 2014.
(Washington—May 22, 2014) China Aid founder and president Bob Fu testified today at a congressional hearing held by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organization, entitled “Protecting Religious Freedom: U.S. Efforts to Hold Accountable Countries of Particular Concern.”
The hearing is in reference to the effectiveness of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom’s designation of nations as countries of particular concern for those countries tolerance or perpetration of “particularly severe violations of religious freedom.” USCIRF has designated China as a country of particular concern since it was founded in 1999.
Below is the full text video of the testimony submitted to Congress by Fu, complete with suggestions for holding these nations accountable.
Congressional Testimony
On September 27, 2013, a court of the second instance tried the cult case of “The Shouters” in Ye county, Pingdingshan in Henan Province. The case started on April 14, 2012, when Ye county, on the pretext of “the cult of the Shouters,” mobilized more than 100 police officers who surrounded the Daying Village, Ren Township Christian Meeting Place (also called the “Local Church” or the “Little Flock”) and seized 52 believers. After that, the Ye county procuratorate approved the arrest of seven of them and at the trial of the first instance, the Ye county court decided to sentence the seven believers, including Han Hai, to prison terms ranging from three years to seven years and six months on the charge of “using a cult to undermine law enforcement.” Teams of more than 20 Christian rights defense lawyers including Li Baiguang and Zhang Kai defended the accused believers at the first and second trials.
The Nanle Religious Case in Henan Province
In the morning of Nov. 16, 2013, as a result of disputes over church property and his pursuit of social justice, Pastor Zhang Shaojie, president of Nanle County’s Christian Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee, was taken into police custody along with more than 20 believers from his church. Zhang’s office and home were searched. Following this incident, Pastor Zhang’s lawyer Xia Jun and other Christian lawyers formed a “team of concerned lawyers” and went to Nanle, but they were beaten up, surrounded and subjected to unreasonable obstruction by the local government agencies and were not able to meet with their clients. The local procuratorate refused to handle complaints about the brutal acts of trampling the law perpetrated by the public security department. The local government also hired many male and female thugs to violently surround, beat up and block journalists attempting to interview people concerned about the case, “Three-Self” church pastors attempting to attend religious activities, believers from other places, and rights defense lawyers. Cao Nan, an evangelist from Shenzhen, was beaten up and administratively detained by the police. The local court tried Pastor Zhang Shaojie on the unsubstantiated charges of “fraud” and “assembling a crowd to disturb public order.” The court’s ruling has not yet been announced. Meanwhile, six other core church staff members are in police custody awaiting trial. Li Cairen, a key witness in this case, was illegally abducted by police and thrown into a “black jail.” To date, her whereabouts remain unknown.
The Zizhou Religious Case in Shaanxi Province
On Dec. 9, 2013, Feng Tiandong, Jiang He and Zhang Baolin, leaders of a house church in Zizhou county, Shaanxi Province, were arrested by the local police along with two believers from their church. It all started two years ago when the police forcibly banned their church and stole all the church property as well as all of Feng Tiandong’s personal property. Feng Tiandong went to the local police station with more than a dozen Christians to demand the return of the properties, only to be arrested by the police on the charge of “assembling a crowd to assault state organs.” The case will soon be tried by a court.
The Tongzhou Religious Case in BeijingOn Jan. 24, 2014, fifteen believers from a Beijing house church, “Sheng’ai Fellowship,” were seized by the police from Beijing’s Tongzhou district and taken to Liyuan Police Station in Tongzhou because they went as a group to visit a sick brother, Zhang Wenhe. On Jan. 25 and 26, except for two believers from Tianjin who were sent back to Tianjin, the remaining 13 believers, i.e. Xu Caihong, Yu Yanhua, Yang Qiuyu, Yang Min, Ju Xiaoling, Lu Dongli, Wang Su’e, Wang Chunyan, Kang Suping, Zhang Haiyan, Zhang Wenhe, Yang Jing and Xu Yonghai, were criminally detained by Beijing police on the charge of “unlawful assembly.” Although they were released after more than 30 days of detention, , the incident showcases how “arbitrary detention” is abused by the police.
The Hohhot Religious Case in Inner Mongolia
On July 25, 2013, simply because they are followers of a controversial Christian sect called “The Shouters,” were in possession of publications by “The Shouters,” and distributed several hundred gospel tracts, brother Hu Gong, brother Wen Weihong and sister Liu Aiying of Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 8 to 9 years by the court of Yuquan district in Hohhot on the charge of “organizing and using a cult to undermine the state’s law enforcement” (Article 300 of China’s Criminal Code).
II. Beginning with Zhejiang Province, the Chinese Communist government has started a nationwide crackdown on Christian groups.
Throughout the day of April 28, 2014, the Chinese government mobilized a large number of paramilitary police officers to forcibly demolish the big and imposing Sanjiang Church in Yongjia county in the city of Wenzhou. To protect the church from demolition, Christians in Wenzhou staged a peaceful protest lasting nearly a month. Sanjiang Church was built over a span of 12 years and cost 30 million yuan, funds that were donated by believers. The demolition of this church marked the onset of the Chinese government’s comprehensive suppression and containment of Christianity. In less than a month, on the pretext of “demolishing illegal structures,” governments of all levels in Zhejiang Province tore down house church buildings and demolished the crosses on the roofs of church buildings across the province, as well as investigating and banning house churches. This demolition campaign of crosses and churches actually started at the beginning of the year. On Feb. 27, the cross above the gate of Huanghu Christian Church in Huanghu county, Yuhang district in the city of Hangzhou, was demolished by people with a professional crane who were sent in by the local government. On the same day, Baiquan Christian Church in Baiquan town, Dinghai district in Zhoushan received an urgent notice from the local government telling the church to remove its cross between Feb. 28 and March 1 or they would be held responsible for the consequences. At the same time, Zhejiang authorities asked churches throughout the province to move their crosses from the roof to inside their church buildings and hang them on the walls. The crosses had to be taken down and made smaller in size, and could not be fixed atop church buildings.
Because of the protests of Christians worldwide, Zhejiang authorities put a halt to the demolition of crosses. But since April, the campaign of demolishing crosses and churches throughout Zhejiang Province has resumed with a vengeance. Churches in Hangzhou, Zhoushan, Taizhou, Fenghua, Xiaoshan, Ningbo, Lishui, Haining and other places were all required to demolish their crosses and church buildings. According to incomplete statistics, since January this year, in addition to Sanjiang Church in Yongjia, Wenzhou, the following Christian churches in Zhejiang Province have been notified to “demolish cross and church: Qiaosi Church, Gulou Church, Sandun Church and Huanghu Church in the Hangzhou area, Baiquan Town Church in Zhoushan, Zhangjiaqiao Church in Yueqing, Hushangao Church, Qianpan Church in Baixiang, Lushan Church and Wu’ai Church in Lingxi town, Cangnan Meeting Place and Guangming Church in Shahe, Rui’an, Xinduqiao Church in Xianjiang town, etc. The cross of Jian’ao Church in Pingyang county, Wenzhou, and the cross of Shuiyang Church in Linhai, Taizhou, have been demolished. On April 24, the cross of Baiquan Church in Zhoushan was demolished. On April 25, the cross of De’en Church in Jiaojiang, Taizhou, was demolished. According to incomplete statistics, by May 18, sixty-four churches in several areas in Zhejiang have been forcibly demolished and their crosses removed or relocated by force or as a result of [government] threats. Details are in the statistical tally attached.
Pastors and coworkers of some churches were detained:
Elder Guo Yunhua and some coworkers of Sanjiang Church in Wenzhou were taken into police custody. Evangelist Rong Hua was criminally detained. Many believers from Sanjiang Church were taken into police custody.
More than 10 believers in Wenzhou were administratively detained for posting photos and defending their rights at the scene of incident.
Brother Zhao and brother Shang from Yueqing, Wenzhou were detained for rights defense.
On April 23, Fu Gangqiao was summoned by police multiple times. Evangelist Wu Jiaole was also summoned and his cellphone confiscated by the police.
Zhao Qianjun, the son of the leader of Baixiang Church in Yueqing, was taken and detained for 10 days by the government.
Zhao Rendi, director of Oubei Parish in Yongjia, and Yan Xiaojie, an evangelist of Rui’an Church, were summoned by police.
The forced demolition of Sanjiang Church in Wenzhou is not an accidental, isolated, local incident. There is every indication that the persecution of churches in Wenzhou, known as “China’s Jerusalem,” through the forced demolition of crosses and churches, is taking place throughout Zhejiang Province. There is even more evidence indicating that the decision behind this religious persecution was not limited to Zhejiang Province but rather is an indication that the Chinese Communist regime intends to start a new round of nationwide persecution. As a matter of fact, it is reported that in addition to the many churches in Zhejiang Province [that have been targeted], churches in China’s northeastern provinces and in the provinces of Anhui, Henan, and Sichuan have also received notices demanding the demolition of crosses and churches. The situation nationwide and the persecution that has occurred in Wenzhou, a city that symbolizes Christianity in China, indicate that this round of persecution and suppression of Christianity and believers across China, taking the form of demolishing crosses and churches as well as infringing upon churches’ property rights, started at the beginning of 2014.
On the morning of March 28, 2014, the government of Zhejiang Province held a teleconference to push forward the “three rectifications and one demolition” campaign regarding “illegal religious structures.” According to a conference memo that was leaked, [attendees were told] to “redress the problem of religion growing too fast, religious venues being too many, and religious activities being too popular,” “identify the political issues behind cross and resist ideological infiltration,” “maintain ideological dominance,” and “foster lion-like leaders.” In this context, we have good reason to believe that the central government, the government of Zhejiang Province and the authorities of Wenzhou have reached a consensus: by using the “three rectifications and one demolition” campaign targeting so-called illegal structures, through destroying the physical space of religious faith and undermining churches’ property rights, they achieve the goal of controlling, suppressing and disciplining the flourishing Christian churches in Zhejiang and the entire country, and thereby thwart the growth of Christianity and cause churches to stay “illegal, in hiding, underground, scattered, and controlled.”
It is well-known that in recent years, the most severe persecution against Christian churches, whether house churches or grassroots “Three-Self” churches, has been to target church property. In both the case of Beijing Shouwang Church and of Wenzhou Sanjiang Church, trampling the churches’ property rights has become the main form of violating religious freedom, including forced relocation, barring churches from buying property, suspending lease agreements, or refusing to return church property. Violating church property rights has become the main way authorities begin to trample on religious freedom. Since they cannot lock up people’s souls, they turn to putting restrictions on the physical aspect of religious activities, thinking that controlling physical space will lead to the demise of religion and that stripping churches’ of their property will cause religion to disappear. Therefore, the current consensus on religious freedom must emphasize that the venues for religious activities and other physical elements are intrinsic, essential factors in the growth of religion, and religious property rights are an essential to freedom of religion. The property rights of religious groups should be protected by the nation’s laws, no different from the property rights of citizens and legal persons, and shall not be subject to violation by the state and other organizations.
It is worth noting that in the past two years, the Chinese Communist regime has often used criminal charges rather than religious reasons to persecute churches and believers. And, like the conviction of Falun Gong practitioners, the government used Article 300 of China’s Criminal Law, i.e. “using a cult to undermine law enforcement,” to convict many non-mainstream Christian denominations such as “The Shouters,” the “Local Church,” and charismatic Christians, etc. We know that government does not have the right to decide between “orthodox faith” and “cult” and to punish accordingly. That authority does not lie with any secular power on this earth.
III. The U.S. government and international community ought to take action right away to stop the Chinese Communist government’s massive religious persecution.
As the head of an organization that monitors religious freedom, human rights and rule of law in China, I make the following appeals:
1. The U.S. Congress and administration should take immediate action to send a strong clear message to the Chinese government that it must immediately stop all forms of religious persecution, truly implement its constitutional pledge that citizens have religious freedom and other basic rights, and truly govern China according to the law; that there will be consequences if the Chinese government refuses to drop its wrong-headed policies; that the United States will not continue to fail to speak out against a Taliban-like dictatorial regime that is uncivilized and anti- human rights; the future of economic, cultural and military cooperation between China and the United States must be linked to improvements in China’s human rights record.
2. I suggest that the U.S. Congress and administration jointly form an observatory group to monitor China’s religious freedom and human rights record. This group should visit China each year to conduct field work so as to gain a comprehensive and authentic understanding of the actual human rights and religious freedom situation in China. In addition to visiting government-sanctioned churches, this groups needs to have extensive contacts with house churches and religious groups in Tibet and Xinjiang. The Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom should be appointed immediately so that he or she can start to really perform the duties of the office right away.
3. The most urgent need right now is for the U.S. government to make a public statement, calling on the Chinese government to return the property that has been confiscated from numerous house churches, including Shouwang Church, and to restore the freedom of church leaders and believers who have been placed under house arrest, have been arrested, or are serving prison time. The pastors and believers detained and awaiting trial in numerous religious cases must be released immediately. The Chinese government should called on to immediately end its forced demolition of churches and crosses, and truly stop its massive persecution of house churches.
4. I suggest that the U.S. government establish a database of “Chinese Communist officials who violate religious freedom and engage in religious persecution,” and strictly bar them from visiting the United States, and strengthen cooperation with other nations and the United Nations in establishing an international coalition to contain and sanction the Chinese Communist government’s violations of religious freedom.
Attachments:
The list of demolished churches and crosses in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province (https://chinaaid.org/2014/05/china-aid-receives-compilation-of-64.html)
China Aid Association’s 2013 Annual Report on Chinese Government Persecution of Christians & Churches in Mainland China (https://chinaaid.org/2014/02/china-aid-association-2013-persecution.html)
China Aid Contacts