education through labor"- after the country’s security service said he has "a mind problem" for following Jesus Christ, BosNewsLife learned early Tuesday, November 4.
"He was allowed to see his wife at the gate of the Lu Shan County Detention Center at 10 a.m. (Monday) and then escorted to a police car and driven away to an undisclosed labor camp," said the well informed Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) in a statement to BosNewsLife.
Zhang was arrested along with Xiao Bi-guang on September 26 and charged with "subverting the Chinese government and socialist order," said VOM, which supports persecuted Christians worldwide.
An unidentified source inside the Beijing Public Security Bureau (PSB), seen as the Chinese equivalent of the CIA, reportedly told VOM contacts hat, "Zhang doesn’t have a criminal problem."
"MIND PROBLEM"
"He has a mind problem. He is too superstitious," the PSB official was quoted as saying, an apparent reference to Zhang’s faith in Christ. "The Chinese government thinks that anyone who follows the teachings of Jesus Christ isn’t thinking clearly," explained VOM spokesman Todd Nettleton.
The latest developments are a major set-back for the house church movement which had fresh hopes after Xiao was released last week and returned to his family in Beijing following prayers and international publicity, VOM said earlier.
Zhang was sentenced by what is known as the Re-education Through Labor Commission of Ping Ding Shan County in Henan Province, a feared institution.
PRAYER JOURNAL
The Commission apparently used Zhang’s personal prayer journal against him, quoting sections like, "We ask the Lord to destroy the strongholds in China." He also wrote out prayers that God would destroy atheistic organizations in China," reported VOM, which has close knowledge of the situation.
Local PSB official Li Hai Tao, said these words constituted "anti-Party, anti-Socialist" writings," VOM reported. All evidence was confiscated from Zhang’s house during a search on September 28, the day his wife was also arrested. She has since been released.
"They will now try to convince Brother Zhang to deny his faith and think like the Party wants him to. We urge Christians around the world to pray that God will sustain Zhang and his family during this time," added VOM Spokesman Nettleton.
COUNTLESS CHRISTIANS
In his writing and research, Zhang "has met with countless Christians who have been arrested, mistreated and imprisoned by Chinese authorities," he said. "The Lord has prepared him in unique ways to face this persecution," noted Nettleton.
Zhang’s sentence is set to end on September 25, 2005. He will have one chance to appeal back to the Commission within 60 days. The sentencing papers also give him the chance to request an administrative trial in the People’s Court within 90 days.
This is an unusual clause in China, where people can be sent for up to three years of laojiao without a formal trial, according to VOM experts. Nettleton urged Christians around the world to pray for Zhang and to protest what he called "this unjust sentence."
With one in five people living in China, the country has experienced the largest church growth in the world, according to Operation World, a respected research book on missions. Church leaders and analysts say the church growth has concerned the atheistic oriented Communist authorities of China.
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The Re-education Through Labor Commission of Lu Shan County can be reached by calling …86-375-2924123, extension 23050.
The Chinese embassy in Washington DC can be contacted at:
Ambassador Yang Jiechi
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC 20008
Tel:(202) 328-2500 Fax:(202) 588-0032
Director of Religious Affairs: (202) 328-2512
Email: chinaembassy_us@fmprc.gov.cn
