CHINA : Freedom of religion or belief: Special bimonthly FoRB newsletter (16-28.02.2022)

Protestants

23.02.2022 – Early Rain Church member recounts ‘evil’ persecution in China, dramatic escape to US

Ren Ruiting will forever remember Dec. 9, 2018, as one of the most terrifying and life-altering days in her life.

She had just attended a rehearsal for the upcoming Christmas event at Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, China, and decided to go to dinner. Suddenly, her phone began buzzing — and the messages were unnerving.

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23.02.2022 – Pastor arrested in Ningxia Hui autonomous region

Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR) is a remote area in Northwest China. It takes its name from the Hui, Chinese-speaking citizens of China who are traditionally Muslims by religion and are considered as members of an “ethnic” minority. Today Hui Muslims are roughly one third of the NHAR population. There is a small Christian minority, which includes less than 2% of the population.

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23.02.2022 – Early Rain member’s online message blocked

On February 18, a Christian of Early Rain Covenant Church responded to a public call for input on the webpage of People’s Daily Online, titled “Listen to the People’s Suggestions: My Message to the National People’s Congress in 2022” leaving a message to Zhao Kezhi, the minister of Ministry of Public Security. She earnestly wrote the message to Minister Zhao, but People’s Daily immediately rejected her message. Their programmed response said, “Your submission did not go through, and the message you input includes forbidden words.” Later she posted her message on WeChat Discovery, but it was deleted shortly afterward.

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22.02.2022 – Panshi church raided and preacher arrested

On February 19, Mrs. Hao Ying published a prayer request letter and asked fellow Christians to pray for Panshi church, her imprisoned husband Geng Zejun, and other 5 Christians released on bail including herself.

Panshi church is a house church in Huinong District, Shizuishan. The church was raided during its Sunday service on December 5, 2021. The preacher Geng Zejun was administratively detained for 15 days. Later he was released and summoned again. His arrest has been formally approved. The other five Christians were administratively detained for 10 days beforehand and released on bail. They are Hao Ying, Luo Shiping, Ye Ningfang, Zhu Junying, and Wang Sufang.

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21.02.2022 – China: Court jails christian pastor for eight years

A district court in central China has sentenced a female Christian pastor to eight years in prison for refusing to join Three-Self Church, a state-controlled body regulating Protestant churches.

Echeng District Court in Ezhou in Hubei province sentenced Hao Zhiwei, 51, pastor of a house church in Ezhou, on charges of fraud on Feb. 11, China Aid reported on Feb. 15.

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Church of Almighty God

 

18.02.2022 – Christian arrested for his belief, deprived of sleep for 11 days

Wang Xinhui (pseudonym), male, born in 1991, is a Christian of The Church of Almighty God (CAG) in the central province of Henan. On November 20, 2021, he was arrested by the CCP police for his belief in Almighty God. In order to extort the information on the CAG from him, the police subjected him to the tortures of “exhausting an eagle,” freezing, and other methods.

During the interrogation, to force Wang to give up the information, the police ordered him to stay in a squatting position, and they would give kicks to his legs if he could not keep the position well.

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16.02.2022 – Christian imprisoned, tortured for her belief

Li Xiaoyang (pseudonym), female, born in 1976, is a Christian of The Church of Almighty God (CAG) in the southeastern province of Jiangxi. In September 2021, Li was released from prison after completing her service. She recounted her miserable story in which she was arrested and tortured in prison for her belief in Almighty God.

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Buddhists

 

18.02.2022 – China warns Tibetan monks ahead of March anniversaries

A top Chinese official in Tibet visited monasteries in and near the Tibetan capital Lhasa this week to warn monks against behavior considered disloyal to the ruling Chinese Communist Party, state media sources said.

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17.02.2022 – Monks in Drago severely ill after six years of torture

Arrested after the 2012 Drago protests, three monks were subjected to forced labour and denied adequate food

Tibet Watch has learned that three senior monks from Drago Monastery are still severely ill after their release from prison four years ago. The three monks, Tsewang Namgyal,Tengya, and another monk whose identity is kept confidential for security reasons, served six-year prison sentences from 2012 until their release in January 2018.

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16.02.2022 Chinese surveillance unit operating inside Tibetan Buddhist monastery

 

A Chinese police surveillance unit is operating, apparently for the first time, inside a Buddhist monastery as part of a renewed crackdown on Tibetan Buddhist religious institutions, a Tibetan with knowledge of the situation said.

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Falun Gong

 

27.02.2022 – 179 practitioners wrongly sentenced during Wu Zhe’s tenure as Dalian City’s chief prosecutor

From September 2016 to October 2021, when Wu Zhe served as the Deputy Prosecutor General of Dalian City Procuratorate in Liaoning Province, 179 local Falun Gong practitioners were unlawfully prosecuted and sentenced to prison. Of the 179 practitioners, 70 were sentenced to prison to four years or more. Three practitioners, Mr. Liu Xiyong, Ms. Zhong Shujuan and Mr. Zheng Dezai, died as a result of the persecution.

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21.02.2022 “Canaries in a cold war”: A film on torture, rape, organ harvesting, and more

About James H. White’s compelling documentary “Canaries in a Cold War” which features the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners as a wake up call to the world.

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18.02.2022 – 66-year-old woman in critical condition after holding hunger strike to protest arbitrary detention for her faith

A 66-year-old Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia resident is in a coma after weeks of being on a hunger strike to protest her latest arrest on February 1, 2022 for practicing Falun Gong. The police refused to release her despite her critical condition.

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Further reading about FORB in China on HRWF website