Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Disabled Anhui House Church Pastor Formally Arrested for Printing Bibles and Christian Literature

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

HUAINAN CITY, CHINA (ANS) -- A well-known disabled Chinese House church pastor has been arrested and accused of illegally printing and distributing Bibles and other Christian literature.

Pastor Wang Zaiqing

According to the China Aid Association (CAA) of Midland, Texas, 43-year-old Pastor Wang Zaiqing was formally arrested May 26, 2006.

A spokesperson for CAA said that Pastor Wang’s wife, Zhang Hongyan, has since received the formal arrest warrant issued by the Domestic Security Protection Squad of the Public Security Bureau (PSB) of Huainan City, Anhui Province.

The arrest warrant said Pastor Wang was suspected of “being involved in illegal business practices.”

The CAA spokesperson said, “He is now being held at No. 1 Detention Center of Huainan City. According to Pastor Wang’s wife, she and Pastor Wang were summoned for questioning April 25 for one day by the PSB of Huainan City. According to the summons paper which contained both of their fingerprints, (a copy of which was obtained by China Aid) Pastor Wang and his wife were accused of ‘illegally printing, editing, and distributing Christian propaganda material.’

“Thus, they were summoned for questioning according to an internal document entitled ‘Notice on Preventing and Dealing with Illegal Activities by Using Christianity.’ [88 Zong Fa Zi No. 385]. According to a website on which a copy of the document was posted, (www.hebmzt.gov.cn/law/matter.jsp?id=3) that secret document was issued and took effect October 18, 1988 by the national Department of Public Security and the State Administration on Religious Affairs (SARA which was formally known as RAB Religious Affairs Bureau).

“On April 25 and 26, Pastor Wang’s house was searched twice and a number of items were confiscated including Christian literature such as Hymnals, Christian Life Quarterly magazine, Why Believe Jesus, Chinese Church History, Pauline Epistles and bank cards as well as an electronic piano used by Pastor Wang’s daughter.

“At 12 noon on April 28, Pastor Wang was taken from his home and declared under ‘criminal detention’ by the PSB of Huainan City.”

The spokesperson went on to say, “Pastor Wang was crippled at the age of five from an illness. He became a Christian in 1993 and later became a very well-known House Church planter and preacher in several provinces around Anhui province.

“He has been printing and distributing Bibles and other Christian literature to fellow believers free of charge to meet the rapid growth of believers. Legal experts say this is the third such case in which the Chinese government used a criminal business related charge against a house church pastor.

“On April 26, 2006 Pastor Liu Yuhua from Shandong Province was arrested on the same charge. Beijing Pastor Cai Zhuohua was sentenced in 2005 to three years imprisonment for printing Christian literature. The Chinese government tries to persecute religious leaders by criminalizing their religious activities. Dr. Li Baiguang, a prominent legal scholar on constitutional law has volunteered to be Pastor Wang’s lawyer. Dr Li met with President Bush on May 11 in the White House along with two other house church members.”

The Rev. Bob Fu, President of CAA, said in a statement: “It’s totally unacceptable for the Chinese authority to arrest this pious crippled pastor simply for printing Bibles. This action certainly reveals the hypocritical nature of the so-called Bible Exhibition tour in the US sponsored by the Chinese government.”

He said that CAA urges the Chinese government to immediately release Pastor Wang and return the property confiscated from his house.

For further information, contact Bob Fu by e-mail at info@ChinaAid.org. Their website can be found at www.ChinaAid.org.