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PERSECUTION.ORG
http://www.persecution.org

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Note: The following text is a quote:
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http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s06040071.htm

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: danjuma1@aol.com

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

MASSIVE ARREST OF CHURCH LEADERS INCLUDING AMERICANS IN YUNNAN PROVINCE
President Bush is urged to bring up China’s human rights record with Chinese President Hu Jintao during their meeting at the White House

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

MIDLAND, TX (ANS) -- On the eve of the visit to the White House on April 20 of Chinese President Hu Jintao, China Aid Association has issued a news release saying that according to CAA’s field investigators in China, seven foreign evangelical church leaders including five Americans and two Taiwanese were interrogated for five hours on March 23, 2006.

“At 9:30am, March 23, 2006, over 120 security officers from five different government agencies raided a conference building in the suburb of Kunming City, the capital of Yunnan Province. The government officers and military police came in two buses and 10 police cars,” said the release from the Midland, Texas, organization.

“Eighty Chinese house church leaders from 20 provinces were attending a fellowship meeting with Christian leaders from America. These 80 leaders represent 25 Chinese minority groups. The five Americans are from churches in Greensboro North Carolina. Among them two are white Americans and three are Chinese Americans. Since the two white American pastors are still inside China and some of the released Chinese pastors are still monitored by the Chinese security agents, their names are not available to the public according to one of the arrested pastors who came back to his home in the US.”

The release continues: “CAA learned this raid was directly orchestrated by the director of the Public Security Bureau of Yunnan Province and carried out jointly by the officers from the provincial public security, national security, foreign affairs office, religious affairs bureau and military police officers. At 2 pm (Beijing Time), following a 5 hour marathon interrogation, all of those arrested were released and some are being followed back to their home provinces.

“According to an eyewitness, the Chinese officers’ attitudes were very rude and they refused to show their IDs and even ate all of the food prepared for the pastors’ lunch. The foreign religious leaders were accused of being foreign religious infiltrators by their interrogators.

Pastor Cai Zhuohua

CAA says that it has also learned that jailed Beijing Pastor Cai Zhuohua has been forced to work more than 10 hours a day making commercial handbags since his transfer to Tianhe Prison on January 11, 2006. Since January 23, 2006, Despite repeated attempts by Cai’s mother, none of Cai’s relatives have been allowed to visit him in prison.(Prison Address: No.9 Qingfeng Road, Tiantang He, Daxing District, Beijing City Tel: +86-10-60278855, director: Mr. Yang Hua; website: www.qsc.gov.cn)

Meanwhile, CAA has issued heartbreaking true stories regarding religious persecution inside China in which it says that the persecution against Protestant House Churches in China has intensified.

“According to reliable reports by China Aid Association, from February to December 2005, at least 1317 confirmed arrests of house church pastors, leaders, and believers have occurred in over twenty provinces in China. Seventeen foreign missionaries including eleven Americans in ten different provinces were arrested during this time. Most of the arrested were released after they were interrogated anywhere from 24 hours to several months.”

CAA says that it has confirmed reports through victims own testimonies showing inhumane torture against the arrested believers including coercion of evidence through drugging and other extremely abusive methods by the interrogators from both Chinese Public Security officers and State Security agents.

Chinese house church pastor, Cai Zhuohua (centre), baptizing a new convert.

“Religious groups which already had limited fundamental rights have been deemed a ‘cult’ at any time and have lost what legitimacy they previous held. Foreigners were ordered to leave the country after hours of interrogation,” said the news release. “On August 2, 2005, the two American theological students from Westminster Theological Seminary were treated brutally and handcuff after they were arrested at a bible study site in Zaoyang City, Hubei Province. Both were denied their right to contact the US Embassy as part of the international consulate protection procedure guaranteed by US-China bilateral treaties.

“We urge President Bush to discuss these specific cases with Chinese President Hu tomorrow,” said Rev. Bob Fu, “the First Freedom – Freedom of Religion - should not be expended freely with free trade.”

Meanwhile, members of Congress want President Bush to again push China to do more to respect the human rights of its people.

According to a story from AP, “The White House says Bush will bring up the issue when he meets with the Chinese president tomorrow. But, lawmakers are skeptical much will be accomplished.

“Republican and Democratic senators have written the president saying there has been an unfortunate backsliding in China's human rights record in recent years. They cite a State Department report that in 2005 there was a trend toward increased harassment and detention of people the Chinese government considered threatening.

“The watchdog group Human Rights Watch is also urging Bush to raise a half-dozen issues with the Chinese leader, including China's increased restrictions on free expression and torture of detainees.”

The website for China Aid Association can be found at: www.ChinaAid.org

Dan Wooding is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS). He was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. Wooding is the author of some 42 books, the latest of which is his autobiography, "From Tabloid to Truth", which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, go to www.fromtabloidtotruth.com. danjuma1@aol.com. (Photo of Dan Wooding: Raul Gonzalez)

** You may republish this story with proper attribution.