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| Michael Horowitz, Devra Marcus and Bob Fu pose with the China Aid Courage Award on March 21, 2014. (Photo: China Aid) |
China Aid Association
(Midland, Texas—March 27, 2014) China Aid presented the Courage Award to Michael Horowitz and Devra Marcus last Friday during the 2014 Vision Banquet for their outstanding bravery in their efforts to advocate for religious freedom and human rights in China.
At the banquet Pastor Bob Fu, founder and president of China Aid, told attendees about China Aid’s mission to expose the abuses, encourage the abused and equip the leaders. Fu also discussed China Aid’s 2013 Persecution Report, which documented 143 cases of persecution that had been reported to China Aid (see https://chinaaid.org/2014/02/china-aid-association-2013-persecution.html).
Horowitz and Marcus, his wife, were guest speakers at the banquet. They spoke of their endeavors to make a difference in the life of Chinese Christians and citizens in general.
Currently, Horowitz, along with several local pastors, is working to persuade Fort Worth Congresswoman Kay Granger, chairwoman of the State and Foreign Appropriations Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives, to appropriate a larger percentage of the budget for breaking through foreign firewalls, such as those in China, Vietnam and North Korea using existing software designed for such breaches.
In October 2013, Marcus traveled to China, sponsored by China Aid, where she attempted to visit jailed democracy activist and Christian Zhu Yufu. Marcus hoped to give Zhu a very basic medical exam after having learned about what she described as disturbing symptoms that were discovered during the family’s last visit to Zhu (see https://chinaaid.org/2013/10/us-doctor-denied-humanitarian-visit.html, https://chinaaid.org/2013/10/update-american-physician-this-time.html and https://chinaaid.org/2013/10/the-wall-street-journal-behind-chinas.html).
At the prison, Marcus and her interpreter, Kody Kness, were denied access to Zhu and were held for several hours while officials tried to determine how to handle an issue that occurred during the visit. Marcus and Kness had used a cell phone to photograph an officer’s portrait outside the said officer’s office. The man had been in charge of interviewing Marcus and Kness before they could be allowed to visit Zhu.
Zhu was arrested on March 5, 2011 for “inciting subversion of state power” because of a poem he published called “It’s Time.” The poem is call for citizens to realize “it’s time” for democracy. “It’s Time” was published around the Arab Spring protests.
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| Michael Horowitz accepts the Courage Award on March 21, 2014. (Photo: China Aid). |
Horowitz is currently the director of the Hudson Institute’s Project for International Religious Liberty and Project for Civil Justice Reform. In the past, Horowitz served as general counsel in the Office of Management and Budget during the Reagan Administration.
Horowitz was instrumental in the development and subsequent implementation of the U.S. International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, which allows asylum-seeking immigrants to obtain refugee status in the U.S. for religious persecution.
Marcus is a retired internist who spent more than 40 years practicing medicine in the Washington, D.C. area. Horowitz called his wife a hero, saying that the couple is often approached by people on the streets of Washington who tell Marcus that she saved their lives.
China Aid Contacts