Authorities harass Christian attorney

14 October 2010

Photo from ChinaAid

A Christian attorney, Jiang Tianyong, was seized by police officers on his way to a worship service in Beijing on October 10. Jiang was on route to his church when police officers blocked his way, claiming that the deputy director of Yangfangdian Police Station would not allow him to go to church. Jiang then phoned the station and was told that it was actually Song Aixin, an official from the Haidian Public Security Branch, who was preventing him from attending church. When Jiang called Song Aixin, he was urged to cooperate. "I wondered how he wanted me to cooperate," Jiang later said of the experience. "Should I cooperate with the police in violating the law? ... Should I give up my personal freedom and the freedom to worship before they can call it 'cooperation?' I said that, as a Christian, I had to attend today's worship service."

Jiang told the officers that he was determined to go to church, but said they could follow him if they wished. He and his family then attempted again to make their way to the service, this time with plainclothes officers trailing them. At the subway station, however, two young police officers suddenly grabbed Jiang from behind while his wife and child watched on in fear. Jiang told his family to leave and then tried to talk with the two officers, who said it would be a "serious act of dereliction" if he attended church. They held him long enough to prevent him from making it to the service before escorting him home.

The incident follows harassment Jiang and his family faced in the second week of September, when authorities followed him, hacked into his email and changed the locks on his wife's bicycle and their home. (Source: ChinaAid)

Pray for endurance of faith for Jiang and his family amid harassment. Pray that they will continue to yield their hearts to God's will and demonstrate His love even to their oppressors. Pray that Christians in China will continue to exercise their right to worship despite opposition.

For more on the persecution of Christians in China, go to the China Country Report.

China

Current Ministry Projects
The Voice of the Martyrs Canada continues to help distribute Bibles to Christians in the country, making it possible for them to have their own printed version of God's Word. Additionally, VOMC works with various mission partners to facilitate a Biblical understanding of persecution and discipleship, while presenting ways to effectively respond and minister within the context of hostility.

Project Funds: Underground Church, Bible, Relief & Development
Country Information
Population
1,413,142,846 (2023 est.)

Ethnicity (%)
Han Chinese (91.1), ethnic minorities (8.9 - includes Zhang, Hui, Manchu, Uighur, Miao, Yi, Tujia, Tibetan, Mongol, Dong, Buyei, Yao, Bai, Korean, Hani, Li, Kazakh, Dai, and other nationalities) (2021 est.)

Religion (%)
Folk religion (21.9), Buddhist (18.2), Christian (5.1), Muslim (1.8), Hindu (< 0.1), Jewish (< 0.1), other (0.7 - includes Daoist [Taoist]), unaffiliated (52.1) (2021 est.)

Leader
President Xi Jinping (2013)

Government type
Communist party-led state

Legal system
Based on civil law system; influenced by Soviet and continental European civil law systems

Sources: CIA World Factbook
Pray for China
Pray that the Gospel will be proclaimed throughout China without government interference so many more names can be added to the Lamb's "Book of Life." May there also be a spirit of unity demonstrated among the country's growing churches, further strengthening existing believers and spurring them on in their ministry service and evangelistic outreach within the country's numerous communities.