2012-04-02
The two raids are the latest incidents in China's clampdown on Christians.
A woman walks to a Christian church in Beijing, April 17, 2011.
Authorities in northern China have raided a religious bookstore in Shanxi province and an underground house church in Inner Mongolia, a U.S.-based rights watchdog and a member of the house church said Monday.
In Shanxi’s capital Taiyuan, police and officials stormed the Grace Like Rain Christian bookstore last Wednesday, confiscating all of the store’s stock and taking its managers in for police questioning, China Aid, a Christian rights NGO headquartered in Texas, said in a statement.
About 30 police and government officials, including officials from the local religious affairs bureau, took part in the surprise raid, confiscating personal items including bank books, cell phones, and computers worth about 300,000 yuan (U.S. $47,680) in total, China Aid said.
According to China Aid, authorities showed no identification during the raid and acted violently and crudely —threatening, insulting, and verbally abusing store managers Hui Zi and Xiao Lei.
The raid began around 9:30 a.m. and continued until 2 p.m., when police forcibly took the two managers away for interrogation until 1 a.m. the next morning.
The following morning, the owner of the bookstore arrived from Beijing to meet with relevant government authorities, but was turned away.
At about 3 p.m., the police again took Huizi and Xiao Lei for interrogation until after 8 p.m., and both store managers were forced to sign transcripts of their interrogation.
“Sometimes a bookstore might sell things which are not put in print by normal procedure, but this is not illegal,” a Beijing-based Christian believer surnamed Chu said in an interview on Monday.
Mr. Chu, who has worked in the publication business, said the rules governing religious publications have been unfair.
“The Chinese Constitution allows for freedom of publication, but the authorities have set up another set of rules to enforce control, which are in fact illegal,” he said.
Officially an atheist country, China nonetheless has an army of officials whose job is to watch over faith-based activities, which have spread rapidly in the wake of massive social change and economic uncertainty since economic reforms began 30 years ago.
Party officials are put in charge of Catholics, Buddhists, Taoists, Muslims, and Protestants. Judaism isn't recognized, and worship in nonrecognized temples, churches, or mosques is against the law.
House church
In a separate development, police in the Inner Mongolian region raided a Christian house church in Ulan Hot city last Saturday, saying their meeting was illegal and confiscating the worshipers’ personal belongings.
“That was a normal congregation, but someone tipped off the police,” a member of the house church who did not wish to be named said Monday.
“Then came the police officers and officials from the local bureau of religious affairs. They searched our bags and took our PCs, cameras, and cell phones away.”
“Actually we have been under threat for several years. They want us to abandon the house church and join the government-controlled church, to which we cannot agree,” she said.
The group’s underground worship was part of China's growing house church movement, a community of Christians who meet in private homes because they cannot register for worship in larger spaces.
While leaders of China's house churches, which overseas groups estimate as having some 40 million followers, say their activities have little to do with politics, raids on unofficial worship have been stepped up in a recent nationwide security clampdown.
Last week, police in eastern China’s Jiangsu province raided a house church bookstore and detained a Protestant pastor for several days.
Pastor Zhang Mingxuan, head of the Beijing-based Chinese House Church Alliance, said the recent spate of government actions against Christian believers might be linked to the upcoming Communist Party congress in the fall, at which China will undergo a leadership change.
"The Communist Party is going to have their 18th congress and the political atmosphere is very tense. Local law enforcement offices are breaching the law in the name of law enforcement," Zhang said.
Reported by Fang Yuan for RFA's Mandarin service. Translated and written in English by Ping Chen.
In Shanxi’s capital Taiyuan, police and officials stormed the Grace Like Rain Christian bookstore last Wednesday, confiscating all of the store’s stock and taking its managers in for police questioning, China Aid, a Christian rights NGO headquartered in Texas, said in a statement.
About 30 police and government officials, including officials from the local religious affairs bureau, took part in the surprise raid, confiscating personal items including bank books, cell phones, and computers worth about 300,000 yuan (U.S. $47,680) in total, China Aid said.
According to China Aid, authorities showed no identification during the raid and acted violently and crudely —threatening, insulting, and verbally abusing store managers Hui Zi and Xiao Lei.
The raid began around 9:30 a.m. and continued until 2 p.m., when police forcibly took the two managers away for interrogation until 1 a.m. the next morning.
The following morning, the owner of the bookstore arrived from Beijing to meet with relevant government authorities, but was turned away.
At about 3 p.m., the police again took Huizi and Xiao Lei for interrogation until after 8 p.m., and both store managers were forced to sign transcripts of their interrogation.
“Sometimes a bookstore might sell things which are not put in print by normal procedure, but this is not illegal,” a Beijing-based Christian believer surnamed Chu said in an interview on Monday.
Mr. Chu, who has worked in the publication business, said the rules governing religious publications have been unfair.
“The Chinese Constitution allows for freedom of publication, but the authorities have set up another set of rules to enforce control, which are in fact illegal,” he said.
Officially an atheist country, China nonetheless has an army of officials whose job is to watch over faith-based activities, which have spread rapidly in the wake of massive social change and economic uncertainty since economic reforms began 30 years ago.
Party officials are put in charge of Catholics, Buddhists, Taoists, Muslims, and Protestants. Judaism isn't recognized, and worship in nonrecognized temples, churches, or mosques is against the law.
House church
In a separate development, police in the Inner Mongolian region raided a Christian house church in Ulan Hot city last Saturday, saying their meeting was illegal and confiscating the worshipers’ personal belongings.
“That was a normal congregation, but someone tipped off the police,” a member of the house church who did not wish to be named said Monday.
“Then came the police officers and officials from the local bureau of religious affairs. They searched our bags and took our PCs, cameras, and cell phones away.”
“Actually we have been under threat for several years. They want us to abandon the house church and join the government-controlled church, to which we cannot agree,” she said.
The group’s underground worship was part of China's growing house church movement, a community of Christians who meet in private homes because they cannot register for worship in larger spaces.
While leaders of China's house churches, which overseas groups estimate as having some 40 million followers, say their activities have little to do with politics, raids on unofficial worship have been stepped up in a recent nationwide security clampdown.
Last week, police in eastern China’s Jiangsu province raided a house church bookstore and detained a Protestant pastor for several days.
Pastor Zhang Mingxuan, head of the Beijing-based Chinese House Church Alliance, said the recent spate of government actions against Christian believers might be linked to the upcoming Communist Party congress in the fall, at which China will undergo a leadership change.
"The Communist Party is going to have their 18th congress and the political atmosphere is very tense. Local law enforcement offices are breaching the law in the name of law enforcement," Zhang said.
Reported by Fang Yuan for RFA's Mandarin service. Translated and written in English by Ping Chen.
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