Police again summon Wu Wuqing, a minister of Chengdu Early Rain Covenant Church

Authorities have summoned Minister Wu multiple times since last year for continuing to serve ERCC. At times, police officers detained him at their station for nearly 24 hours. Although Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials have intensified pressure on Minister Wu, and persecuted him in various ways, he refuses to give in and deny his Christian faith.

Last autumn, authorities shut off the water and electricity at Minister Wu’s residence multiple times. Several times, early in May this year, unknown individuals deflated the tires on his car and even punctured them to the point they could not be repaired.

On May 8, police again seized Minister Wu. While Minister Wu’s wife and several congregants waited for him at the police station, officers detained her, as well as several congregants. During that time, several police officers beat Dai Zhichao and Shu Qiong (ERCC congregants).

Hao Guiru pried Minister Wu Wuqing’s door (CCP officials had locked) and met with him.  (Photo: ChinaAid resource)

Since June 04, CCP authorities chained the only exit to downstairs—the door of the fire escape outside Minister Wu’s home. Officials had assigned up to four unidentified people to monitor Minister Wu and his wife from outside their apartment. The monitors did not reveal their identities, nevertheless, they illegally restricted Minister Wu and his wife’s freedom, locking them inside their home and refusing to let them leave.

As CCP authorities kept Minister Wu and his wife imprisoned in their apartment, this severely affected them. They not only had to order drinking water, vegetables, and food, they asked ERCC Brothers and Sisters living close to deliver other necessities to their door.

Even though Minister Wu’s wife suddenly became ill on the evening of June 04, CCP monitors prohibited her and Minister Wu from going out to purchase medicine. ERCC Brothers and Sisters came by and slipped medicine under the door.

On June 12, Hao Guiruo, a Brother attending ERCC pried Minister Wu’s apartment door open and unlocked the chain to visit Minister Wu’s family inside. Police officers, however, seized Brother Hao Guiruo immediately.

The CCP monitors did not leave their post until July 5.

Twelve days later, police officers again summoned Minister Wu to their station. At 8 am, two unidentified individuals sat outside Wu’s apartment, and monitored the scene. At noon, just as Minister Wu started to lunch, police officers transported him to their station.

On July 15, in Pingchang, the hometown of Cheng Xiangqi, another ERCC congregant, police ordered that he serve a 15-day detention sentence for posting a poem on WeChat that suggested the CCP should confess their sins and turn to Jesus.

Using a common practice of shutting off a resident’s water, electricity, and gas, police officers regularly convince landlords to force Christians to move. After Jia Xuewei, another Christian Brother, had lived in his new rental place for only a month, officials threatened his landlord to ultimately evict Brother Jia from his place.

~ Yu Bing, ChinaAid Special Reporter