Beijing-based Pastor "Bike" Zhang Mingxuan, who also leads the 250-000 member Chinese House Church Alliance, called his son Zhang Jian Wednesday, October 22, "for the first time since his disappearance," last week, confirmed religious rights group China Aid Association (CAA) in a statement to BosNewsLife.
He apparently told his son he was detained October 16 by officers of the Public Security Bureau (PSB), China’s main enforcement agency, in Kunming City of Yunnan province. Pastor Zhang was scheduled to be transferred to Nanyang City in Henan province on Friday, October 24, CAA told BosNewsLife.
It came as the United States strongly condemned on Thursday, October 23, the "brutal beating" earlier this month of two sons of the detained pastor, and voiced concern over what it said was "a pattern of intimidation of religious leaders" in China.
SON BEATEN
Zhang’s oldest son, Zhang Jian, was severely beaten while his mother was forced to look on during a raid of their Beijing home, several sources confirmed to BosNewsLife.
"When I got there, I saw my mom lying on the ground being knocked down by these thugs … I tried to use my body to protect my mom from being hurt by them," Zhang said later about the attack in a published statement. "Then this group of 15 officers immediately surrounded me and started beating my head and body with iron bars and said, ‘We need to teach you a lesson as a troublemaker.’"
The attack allegedly lasted 25 minutes. "Authorities persecute this family simply because they are Christians. Their ministry to orphans and house churches – ordinary Christian activities – are considered crimes in China," CAA added. "Zhang Jian was severely injured in the attack and needs immediate surgery," the group said. He was allegedly forced to sign a PSB statement saying that his injuries were not serious.
STATE DEPARTMENT
US State Department spokesman Robert Wood the beatings of Zhang and his younger brother were raised concerns. "We are gravely concerned by the brutal beating of Pastor Zhang’s two sons by public security officials," said Wood. "We are also deeply concerned by the continuing official harassment of Pastor Zhang, a prominent Beijing house church leader, including his arbitrary detention and the forced relocation of his family," he said. His family was reportedly held Thursday, October 23, in a PSB-run Beijing hotel, without their cell phones.
Wood urged the government of China to immediately release Zhang, allow his relatives to return home and to condemn "violent acts" committed against his sons and bring to justice those responsible for the beatings.
China has some 130 million Christians, many of whom worship in either state-run or underground churches, including those held in people’s homes, according to estimates. "We are concerned about a pattern of intimidation of religious freedom and rule of law advocates and their family members," Wood said.
REPUBLICAN LEADERS
Earlier two Republican Congressional leaders, Congressman Frank R. Wolf and Congressman Christopher Smith wrote a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urging her to request urgent action from the Chinese government to free the pastor and demand compensation for personal damages inflicted upon his family.
In July 2008, both Congressmen met Zhang and his wife in Beijing, despite Chinese attempts to prevent the meeting. "During the meeting Zhang was able to personally share with the Congressmen the daily struggles and abuses he and fellow Christians face on a daily basis from the Communist Party of China," said CAA.
China’s ruling Community Party regards religious and other groups as potential threats to its power and regularly detains pastors and priests. Zhang and his wife were removed from Beijing in July in a bid to control dissidents in the run-up to the Beijing Olympic Games.
EU AWARD
Separately, the United States also urged China immediately to release human rights activist Hu Jia, who was awarded the European Parliament’s top human rights prize on Thursday.
Hu was jailed for subversion after testifying to the European Parliament’s human rights subcommittee last year.
State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said the United States had pressed China "on many occasions and at the highest levels" to release Hu. Hu was sentenced to 3-1/2 years in prison in China in April, Reuters news agency reported. Hu, 35, had already spent many months under house arrest with his wife and child.
