Authorities Target Protestant House Churches for Harassment, Detentions in December

Authorities disrupted several Protestant house church gatherings in December 2008, in some cases detaining church leaders, according to reports from the China Aid Association (CAA), an organization that monitors conditions for religious freedom in China. The reports come amid calls from local governments in late 2008 to stem Protestant house church gatherings and meetings of other unregistered religious groups. The CAA also issued a report in December on the demolition of a registered church and provided information on new developments in ongoing cases.

Recent reports include:

• The Zhoukou municipality Reeducation Through Labor Committee (RTL) in Henan province issued a decision on December 16, 2008, sentencing three church leaders to one year of RTL for their involvement in "illegal proselytizing" and an "illegal gathering," according to a January 6 CAA report and a copy of the RTL decision posted January 6 on the CAA Web site. Authorities initially detained the three church leaders, Tang Houyong, Shu Wenxiang, and Xie Zhenqi, on December 3 at a house church gathering. CAA reported that authorities detained other attendees and sentenced 20 of them to 15 days of administrative detention. According to CAA, authorities alleged the church members belonged to the "Shouters," a group deemed a cult by authorities, but CAA said the church members were not associated with the group. The wife of one of the men sentenced to RTL has since pursued legal action in the case, including filing an administrative lawsuit and a motion to dismiss a judge involved, according to a January 26 CAA press release and copy of a court filing posted the same day on the CAA Web site.

• On January 2, public security officers in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), disrupted a house church meeting and detained 51 attendees. Authorities held 3 of the 51 in public security bureau custody, one of whom was sentenced to 10 days of administrative detention, according to a January 5 report from CAA.

• On December 17, police officers in Yancheng, Jiangsu province, demolished a registered church, according to a December 22 report from CAA. The CAA said sources described the demolition of the Chengnan Christian Church as the result of collusion between the Yancheng government and real estate developers. The demolition came despite a December 16 court ruling in favor of the church, CAA reported.

Among reports from CAA are also several incidents which took place during the Christmas season, a period also targeted in past years.

• Authorities disrupted Christmas eve and Christmas day gatherings in Bozhou, Anhui and Yucheng county, Shangqiu, Henan provinces and Qitai county, Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture, in the XUAR, according to CAA reports from December 26 and December 30. Officials took into detention two church leaders from the Anhui gathering, seven church leaders from the XUAR, and nine people from Henan. Authorities later released five of the nine detained in Henan and sentenced the remaining four to 15 days of administrative detention, according to a December 27 report from Monitor China, a Web site affiliated with the CAA.

• Earlier in the week, authorities targeted other house church Christmas celebrations in Anhui and in the XUAR, according to a December 25 CAA report via the Christian News Wire. Authorities disrupted a Bible training class in Dongzhi county, Chizhou, Anhui province, on December 22, interrogated the 19 students and 2 church leaders in the class, and sealed off the building where the classes were held. On December 22, authorities warned a house church leader in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, XUAR, to stop holding services.

• On December 24, police disrupted a group of people, including Protestant volunteers, who had gathered to rebuild housing for victims of the May 12, 2008, earthquake in Sichuan province, according to a December 27 CAA report. Authorities confiscated the group's property and took some of the group members into detention. CAA reported that authorities had targeted the group because of the presence of the Protestant volunteers.

Also in December, the CAA reported on developments in ongoing cases.

• On December 15, a court in Qorghas (Huocheng), XUAR, tried the case of church leader Lou Yuanqi, detained since May 17, 2008, for “inciting separatism,” in connection to interviews he gave about his prior detentions for leading house church services. Authorities formally arrested him on June 20, on charges of using superstition to undermine implementation of state law, a crime under Article 300 of the Criminal Law, stemming from his church activities and from reporting abuses to overseas groups. See a CAA December 15 report and the Congressional-Executive Commission on China Political Prisoner Database for more information.

• On December 21, 2008, public security officers detained Beijing-based house church leader Zhang Mingxuan in Ulanhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, while he was there to preach, according to a December 22 CAA report. He was sentenced to 15 days of administrative detention for "operating an illegal organization for religious activities." International pressure prompted his early release on December 22, CAA reported. Authorities harassed Zhang on multiple other occasions in 2008, as noted in previous CECC analyses (1, 2) and the CECC Political Prisoner Database.

For more information, see section II--Freedom of Religion in the CECC 2008 Annual Report.