Government Harassment and Detention of Protestants Resumes in Late April

Officials detained Chinese Protestants on five occasions since April 26, according to reports by the China Aid Association (CAA), a U.S. NGO that monitors religious freedom in China.

• On April 26, officials detained pastor Liu Yuhua at the Linchu County Detention Center in Shandong province. Officials accused Liu of involvement in “illegal business practices.” According to CAA, Liu had printed and distributed Bibles and other Christian literature free of charge. According to a CAA source, officials searched Liu’s office without a search warrant and confiscated cash and banking records. Article 111 of China's Criminal Procedure Law requires a search warrant. The charges against Liu are similar to those against Cai Zhuohua, a house church pastor who had printed and given away Bibles. In 2004 officials charged Cai with illegally operating a business, and in 2005 he was convicted of this charge.
   
• On May 10, officials raided a house church Bible study session in Suqian city in Jiangsu province, using electric shock batons on some of the church members. About 60 believers were present, and officials interrogated 11 pastors and house church leaders, including South Korean pastor Cui Rongbo, and pastors Cai Zhirong and Wu Changle. On May 11, officials ordered Pastor Cui to leave China within 48 hours.
   
• On May 12, officials harassed and disrupted a meeting of the Chenhang house church in Shanghai municipality. Officials ordered members of the house church to stop meeting.
   
• On May 16, officials raided a house church Bible study meeting in Shanghai municipality. Officials detained Pastor Zhang Guangming from Henan province and Pastor Ye Shengchong from Zhejiang province. As of May 18, officials continued to hold one of the two pastors.
   
• On May 18, officials detained Pastor Chu Wei in Beijing. A house church leader from Anhui province, Pastor Chu had come to Beijing to obtain legal advice for a house church group in Henan province. An official told Chu that he had been detained at the joint request of the Henan and Anhui Public Security Bureaus. Officials interrogated Chu for four hours and then released him.

Officials detained unregistered Protestants in November 2005, in December 2005, during the Christmas season in 2005, in January, in February and March, and again in late March. CAA reported no detentions of Protestants between March 23 and April 26; Chinese President Hu Jintao visited the United States between April 18 and April 22.

For more information on Protestants in China, see the CECC 2005 Annual Report, Section III(d).