interrogation," religious rights group Christian Aid Association (CAA) said in comments monitored by BosNewsLife Wednesday, October 12.
CAA said it had learned Tuesday, October 12 that "Mr. Hua Huiqi was released from detention" after being "handcuffed throughout the whole seven hours [when] he was kicked and beaten constantly."
Hua was quoted as saying his "interrogators repeatedly slapped his face every time before he answered a question." There was no immediate independent confirmation of that report, but CAA is known to have close contacts with persecuted believers in China.
In remarks published by CAA, Hua said that although he was beaten "by the interrogators repeatedly, I told them I love and pray for them instead of hating" them.
"STRANGE MAN"
"They told me I am a strange man," he added. CAA said it has urged its supporters to "make an urgent appeal to the international community and the Beijing Public Security authority to intervene on his behalf."
(CAA) said he was detained after 8 men claiming to be from Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau "rushed into his home with a summon note."
Hua was reportedly accused of providing aid to a Christian woman, identified as Sun Xiaodi, who was allegedly kidnapped by Chinese secret service agents on April 28, this year because of her activities for a house church in Gansu province. Chinese officials have not reacted to the allegations. But China’s government has denied human rights abuses, saying it only prosecutes "sects".
DETENTION BUSINESSMAN
The detention followed reports that a well-known Christian businessman Tong Qimiao, 45, was expelled from a hospital where he was treated for a broken chest after allegedly being tortured by security forces for his house activities.
The expulsion over the weekend by security agents in the town of Kashgar in Xinjiang province came after he and his wife briefly left the hospital to demand that the office of the State Security and Public Security investigates "the abuse of power and torture by his interrogators on September 28 for his house church activities," said CAA in a statement to BosNewsLife.
Violence against Christians has been linked to mounting concern within China’s Communist government about the growing number of unofficial ‘house’ churches in the country. Human rights watchers claim over 60 million Christians attend worship services outside the state-run denominations. (With BosNewsLife Research and reports from China).
