Officials Detain Protestants in Six Provinces

In July and August, provincial officials detained house church Protestants in Anhui, Henan, Hubei, and Yunnan provinces, and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and placed a registered Protestant pastor under house arrest and evicted him from his parish in Shanxi, according to the China Aid Association (CAA), a U.S. NGO that monitors religious freedom in China.

• On July 16, officials in Pinglu county, Shanxi province, placed a registered pastor under house arrest and on July 25 evicted him from his church, according to an August 9 CAA report. Pastor Hu Qinghua reportedly had invited a pastor based in Hong Kong to visit the church. On July 6, officials from the local Religious Affairs Bureau (RAB) began a series of visits to pressure Pastor Hu, church elders, and congregation members to withdraw the invitation and to force Pastor Hu to step down and leave the church. The elders and congregation refused to agree to Pastor Hu’s departure. On July 16, officials placed Pastor Hu under house arrest in the church. On July 26 an RAB official announced that Pastor Hu must leave, and the pastor is reportedly no longer ministering at the church.
• On July 19, officials raided a house church service in Zhumadian city, Henan province, and took into custody and interrogated more than 60 house church members, according to a July 21 CAA report.
• On July 21, officials in Anlu city, Hubei province, raided a house church meeting and took into custody and interrogated 20 church members, according to a July 21 CAA report. Officials released some of the members the same day, but continued to detain others. According to a July 25 CAA report, officials subsequently placed 10 of the house church members in administrative detention ranging from 10 to 15 days.
• On July 24, officials in Jinghong city, Yunnan province, briefly detained and tortured Xing Baoying and Wang Guizhen, both house church members from Henan province, and Li Jianying and Li Tuying, house church members from Jinghong city, according to an August 11 CAA report.
• On July 27, officials in Huainan city in Anhui province raided a house church Sunday school teacher's training class and took into custody and interrogated about 40 adults, according to an August 3 CAA report. CAA reported that officials placed Pastor Li Lizhong and church member Cai Yili in administrative detention for 15 days.
• On August 19, officials raided a house church in Wuhai city in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, according to an August 28 CAA report. Officials confiscated church property and warned the house church members that they are not permitted to meet except at churches registered with the state-controlled Three-Self Patriotic Movement.

In June and July, officials detained other house church members and accused them of involvement in "cult" activities.

For more information on Protestants in China, see the CECC 2006 Annual Report, Section V(d).