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China

• New Regulations Bring Added Restrictions

  

  Authorities in Zhejiang province have instituted a series of new restrictions on churches, including regulations forbidding the practice of baptismal services and the use of offering collection boxes. The monitoring of attendees, types of activities, service times and locations has been given to appointed government officials to ensure all the restrictions are followed.

• Six Uyghur Christians Arrested

  

  Six Christians of Uyghur descent were recently imprisoned in China's northwestern province of Xinjiang. All were charged with illegal preaching, gathering, and spreading harmful books. They were each sentenced to at least five years in prison. Detained were Mehmet Abdulla, Huji Abdurehim, Maimaiti Yimingjiang, Adil Jan, a Christian doctor with the last name of Rakhman, and a man identified only as "Brother Adil." Some of these believers are new converts to Christ.

• Christian Orphanage Shut Down

  

  Authorities in China's Shanxi province forcibly removed all the children from a Christian-founded orphanage on August 26th and placed them in state care instead. The Bethany Home for Children with Disabilities was founded in 1997 and, over the years, has taken in and provided for more than 100 special needs children. Most of them were abandoned by their parents because of their disabilities.

• Human Rights Lawyer Still Missing After Two Years

  

  Gao Zhisheng, a prominent human rights lawyer, has personally experienced persecution for many years. The Voice of the Martyrs Canada has been reporting on Gao's case since his initial arrest in 2006. Since then, he has been released and re-arrested numerous times, often disappearing to undisclosed locations at the hands of the authorities.

  When Gao had gone missing on August 13th, 2017, family and friends had assumed he had been apprehended by the authorities again. Yet, in reality, two of his supporters had smuggled him out of the province in an attempt to free him from house arrest and keep him safe. After three weeks of intensive searching, the authorities managed to locate him, and Gao has not been seen nor heard from since. There have been rumours of his location, but no one was able to verify them.

• Family Terrorized by Police

  

  A Christian woman from Shenzhen penned a letter titled, "Horrible," to describe the abuse her family suffered at the hands of governmental authorities. Shi Minglei was leaving for work on the morning of July 22nd when she saw a group of officials hiding in the fire escape. They rushed into her home, breaking down the door, to arrest her husband, Cheng Yuan. Cheng was allowed to pack his clothes before being taken away without any information on where he was going.

• Updates on Pastors John Cao and Wang Yi

  

  It was recently reported that the appeal hearing for American/Chinese pastor John Cao had been cancelled, for the court was to instead make its decision based solely on written submissions (see this report). On July 25th, the outcome of the court's decision was to uphold the original seven-year sentence. Due to a heavy police presence, only Pastor John Cao's elderly mother and sister, along with his lawyer, were allowed to hear the verdict.

• Pastor Cao Faces a "Paper Trial"

  

  American pastor John Cao and his co-worker, Jing Ruxia, were detained in 2017 after being accused of "organizing illegal border crossings" between Myanmar and China (see our previous report). Pastor Cao was sentenced to seven years in prison and Jing to one year. Although the accused pastor has appealed the sentence, the hearing has been pushed back several times.

  Last week, the hearing was scheduled for August 22nd. However, Pastor Cao's lawyer received notice on July 12th that there will be no hearing after all; instead, the lawyers must submit any arguments on paper by July 17th. The court would then consider the arguments and render a decision. ChinaAid founder Bob Fu has condemned the process as a "sham" and a "trial session on paper only."

• Multiple Church Raids and Closures

  

  Opposition to unregistered house churches in China has increased significantly, with multiple raids and closures in recent days. Officials in Xiamen have stated their intent to shut down all house churches within the city over the next two years, which is only one small part of a nationwide campaign.

• Pastor's Wife Released on Bail

  

  On the evening of December 9th, 2018, over 100 members of the Early Rain Covenant Church were arrested in coordinated raids on their homes. The pastor, Wang Yi, remains in detention, facing up to 15 years in prison. Several others, including his wife, also face charges. For more information on this incident, go to this page.

• Ongoing Church Harassment

  

  As opposition to Christianity grows throughout China, churches in rural areas in particular are experiencing rapid growth. One Christian stated that "people are joining churches by the whole village, one village after another." When asked why, the believer said one factor is that limited financial resources force people to rely on God in their everyday lives.