More to come?!

The news that the blind Chinese legal activist, Chen Guangcheng, and his immediate family have been allowed to emigrate to the U.S.of A., is very encouraging.  Unfortunately, he is but one in a large number of those who, within the People's Republic of China, are incarcerated, or held under "house arrest", for holding and airing views that are deemed to be contary to the position held by the authorities.  "Freedom of speech" appears to be an alien concept within the most populated nation in the world!

As I read of Chen Guangcheng's escape, I thought of so many others whose plight is known to me - and even more of whom I am totally unaware!  I thought of human rights lawyer, and disciple of Jesus, Gao Zhisheng, a 45-year-old attorney who has defended activists and religious minorities, and who is an outspoken critic of the Chinese government.  He was given a suspended sentence of three years in prison on charges of "inciting subversion of state power" in December 2006, with five years of probation.   After the sentence, Mr Gao was placed under house arrest. His wife and two children sought asylum in the United States in early 2009 and are now living in California. Chinese authorities revealed in December 2011 that he was being held in a Xinjiang (western China) prison, after he "seriously violated probation rules".   Earlier this year, Mr Gao's older brother, Gao Zhiyi, told journalists that he had met his brother, but it was "not convenient" for him to elaborate further. 

Christian political dissident Liu Xianbin recently received a ten year prison sentence, after having been tried for treason in The People’s Court of Suining in China’s south-central province of Sichuan.  He had been arrested almost a year ago on charges of “inciting subversion” against “state power”, after he had posted a series of internet articles demanding political reform.

Dr Fan Yafeng, head of the Chinese Christian Human Rights' Lawyers Association, has been under house arrest since October 12th, 2010. He was taken in for questioning on December 9 and was tortured repeatedly over several days, according to China Aid.  Dr Fan, his wife, and their young son - who were also arrested and interrogated - remain under house arrest to this day, with Domestic Security Protection agents standing guard round-the-clock at the door of their apartment.

The Uyghur house church leader Alimujiang, in Xinjiang, has now served four years in prison. In February 2011, his appeal was rejected and his original 15-year sentence was upheld.  The vice-president of the Chinese House Church Alliance, Shi Enhao, was sentenced in July 2011 to two years of re-education through labour. Many well-known Christian human rights lawyers were persecuted: Jiang Tianyong and Li Fangping in Beijing, and Guangzhou’s Tang Jingling, were both abducted and tortured by the government. 

Some well-known Christian lawyers and political dissidents have also been punished: Chen Wei from Sichuan province, and Chen Xi from Guizhou province, were sentenced to 9- and 10-year prison terms, respectively; Zhu Yufu from Zhejiang province is still in jail awaiting the result of his trial nearly a year after his arrest. Beijing’s Ni Yulan, and her husband, Dong Jiqin, are in jail awaiting trial and sentencing. A well-known Christian in the film and visual arts, Jiang Yaxi, is also in prison awaiting trial. 

It would be good to think that Chen Guangchen's new-found liberty is the beginning of a move by the Chinese authorities to permit citizens of the Republic to hold, and express, their opinions in a reasonable manner.  Sadly, there is actually little to suggest that this one instance is anything more than a temporary sop to USA-Chinese relationships.  Perhaps Hillary Clinton will take these other cases on board, as well!

(most of the information in this post has been gleaned from China Aid: http://www.chinaaid.org/  )

Pot; Kettle; Black!

Those were the words that immediately came to mind when I heard the news, earlier today, that China's Middle East envoy had called on the Syrian government to speed up the reforms it has promised in response to popular demands, saying the situation was dangerous and the bloodshed - well reported by the international media - could not continue.

Now, like any sane person, I am happy that additional pressure is being put on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government to end the bloody, seven-month crackdown on protesters demanding political reforms.  It is encouraging that China has made its position clear.  It is to be hoped that Russia will add its voice to the condemnation of the activities of this despot and his supporters.

However, I would also hope that China would "take the log out of its own eye, before attempting to take the speck out of Syria's eye"! (see Matt.7:5).     It is in China that Pastor Shi Enhao, deputy chairman of the Chinese House Church Alliance, was recently sentenced to two years "re-education through labour" for organizing illegal meetings, trial observers said. It is in China that Gao Zhisheng a Nobel Peace Prize nominee and Christian human rights lawyer who has published several reports and open letters detailing the human rights restrictions in China, including on religious freedom, has not been seen since April, 2010, in spite of repeated requests from his family (now in the U.S.of A.) and others , for news of his whereabouts, and his physical condition. Fan Yafeng, a house church leader and expert in constitutional law, has been held under house arrest at his home in Beijing since December last year.

Organisations such as Release International, Open Doors, and Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), for which links are available further down this page, have a catalogue of instances in which individual disciples of Jesus are being persecuted, in China, for their faith.  The Chinese government constantly denies human rights abuses, saying Christians are free to worship within the official denominations!  However, many of China's up to 130 million Christians prefer to worship in house churches, outside the control of the country's Communist government.

Leaders of the independent Shouwang Church in Beijing remain under house arrest. This congregation has tried to meet outdoors every Sunday since April 11, after government officials repeatedly denied them access to a permanent worship place which, according to all reports, is the legal property of the congregation!  Over 600 Shouwang Church Christians have reportedly been detained since April, including 15 on August 28 and 12 arrests on September 4. Police often detain believers, some of whom have travelled for hours, before the service starts  - and typically free them within 24 hours!

As many of us pray about the ongoing situation in Syria, and other parts of the Middle East, let us not forget those who, in China (and some fifty other countries in the modern world), are bearing in their bodies the marks of the Lord Jesus (see Gal.6:17).  They are paying a price that many in the "west", who bear the Name, might be unwilling to pay!