Autonomous Region of Western China, as part of an ongoing government-led crackdown on evangelical Christians, a leading human rights official confirmed Thursday July 22.
"The 100 in Xinjiang are all currently still in custody," said Todd Nettleton, Director of News Services at The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) which investigates the plight of persecuted Christians. "We encourage Christians around the world to pray for these brothers and sisters, and to call the Chinese embassy on their behalf."
In a statement to BosNewsLife he said the group was meeting for a retreat when they were surrounded by over 200 military police, Public Security Bureau (PSB) and other officers, who "arrived at the scene in 46 police and military" vehicles. "No arrest warrants or even official identification papers were shown by officers as they carried out the raid," VOM claimed. The meeting was being held at the "Retreat Center for Railroad Workers" located in Section 5 of Liu Gong Town, Chang Ji Zhou (district) in Xinjiang, said VOM, which has close ties with the house church movement.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), another human rights watchdog, reported that the latest arrests follow a similar raid on June 11 in Wuhan City in Hubei Province, when about 100 members of the China Gospel Fellowship (CGF) were detained.
OTHERS RELEASED
"My understanding is that the 100 previously arrested have now all been released," Nettleton told BosNewsLife. However the China Aid Association said at least one detainee from the arrest, 39-year-old Pastor Xing Jinfu, a senior CGF leader, was still in prison and has been transferred from Hubei to an undisclosed location in Henan Province.
It quoted "a reliable source" as saying that Pastor Xing has been tortured by his interrogators to force him to disclose information about CGF’s activities. "Sadly, this account is consistent with the frequent reports of torture of detained Christians," CSW added.
Further arrests took place last week in Cheng Du City in Sichuan Province at a training seminar when 40 house church leaders and a Taiwanese couple who were leading the seminar were arrested. The 40 have been released, but the whereabouts of the Taiwanese couple is not known, CSW said, amid fears for their lives.
CHRISTIANS KILLED
Last month a 34 year old woman was beaten to death by police after she was arrested for handing out Bibles in southwest China’s Guizhou province, BosNewsLife learned.
The French News Agency (AFP) quoted China’s state run Legal Daily newspaper as saying that police in Guizhou’s Tongzi county arrested Jiang Zongxiu, a farmer, on June 18 on suspicion of "spreading rumors and inciting to disturb social order." They had planned to detain her for 15 days, the report said, alleging Jiang died in police custody the afternoon she was arrested.
And on April 27 2004, Gu Xianggao, a 28-year-old teacher in the Three Grades Servants house church, was beaten to death in custody in Heilongjiang Province, his family and human rights groups said. "China wants us to think their people have freedom to practice religion," said Nettleton. "These cases and the hundreds like them show that to be a complete farce."
PROTEST LETTERS
VOM said letters of protest can be sent to the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC at the following address: Ambassador Yang Jiechi, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, 2300 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC 20008.
Analysts have linked the crack down to fear among the Communist authorities about spectacular church growth in the country, despite persecution. Thousands of Christians and dissidents are believed to be in prisons and labor camps across China.
The government recently delayed the arrival of a United Nations delegation which wanted to investigate reports of torture in the Communist nation.
