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| Wang Hongwu, left, pictured with her two sons. Photo: China Aid |
China Aid
Reported in Chinese by Qiao Nong. Translated by Carolyn Song. Written in English by Brynne Lawrence.
(Guiyang, Guizhou—Aug. 29, 2016) The wife of a prominent imprisoned pastor reported that police began monitoring her constantly on Aug. 12.
After Wang Hongwu, the wife of house church pastor Yang Hua who is currently accused of “divulging state secrets,” refused to comply with a summons to the police station on Aug. 12, officers arrived at her home, complained that they were tired from patrolling and stayed until dinner time. Officials from the neighborhood committee also came claiming they wanted to collect evidence.
In an interview, Wang said that officials have been persistently following her and surveilling her house. “They keep watch at the door to my home for 24 hours [a day]. At night, they all sleep in the car. Last Saturday, many [officers] were at the gate to our neighborhood … They wanted to check the identity cards of friends that came to my house. I said, ‘Why are you checking my friends’ identity cards? Is it illegal to come to my house?’ There was one friend that came, and they were still blocking the gate. They wouldn’t let him into my home … That day, a foreign friend whom I don’t really know came. Another friend said that [the officials] saw there was a foreigner at our neighborhood’s gate, and they did not let them in.”
A member of Huoshi Church, where Yang is a pastor, told a China Aid reporter: “A while ago, public security officers from the police station came to find Hongwu and tell her that a foreigner wanted to interview her. On Sunday [Aug. 21], a person called and arranged to meet with me, but personnel from the national security [department] stopped me and said that foreigners came to interview me, and [the officials] commanded me not to meet with them.”
Officials scheduled a pre-trial meeting for Yang’s case on Aug. 16. However, when one of the judges presiding over the case returned from visiting him, she was involved in a car accident and suffered a miscarriage. As a result, the court has postponed the meeting.
Another Huoshi Church pastor, Su Tianfu, said that the police have followed him every day since Dec. 19 of last year, even forcing him to use government-arranged transportation for outings such as shopping.
China Aid exposes abuses, such as those experienced by Su Tianfu, Wang Hongwu and other members of Huoshi Church in order to stand in solidarity with persecuted Chinese Christians.
ChinaAid Media Team
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