Continuing Injustices in China

I'm thankful for American freedoms on July 4...

According to Compass Direct News, which keeps a finger on the pulse of injustices, Chinese authorities detained a member of one of Beijing’s largest unregistered churches on Monday (June 27) and sent him to his home town in Shandong Province.

Three officers from Beijing’s Dongsheng police station detained the Shouwang church member at about 5 p.m. while he was at a market to get a mobile phone fixed, sources said. The officers handed him over to a Shandong office based in the capital, which sent him to his hometown that evening. He was the second member of the church to be expelled from the city since authorities allegedly compelled the owners of the church’s rented facility to stop leasing to the congregation in April, forcing members of this large church to meet outdoors the past three months.

The Shouwang member expelled on Monday notified the church that his identity card was confiscated, and he was warned not to return to Beijing before July 1, the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. The first church member detained was arrested on May 8; he had already been forced to quit his job as an instructor at an international school for children under 3 years old, and as he lived at the school office, he also lost his lodging. In a press statement, Shouwang church leaders said yesterday, “The forced expatriation by Dongsheng Police Station and Haidian Public Security Bureau has constituted a complete contempt for and a flagrant violation of the law, in effect depriving a citizen of any guarantee of the most basic of foundational existential rights.”

Imagine losing your job and ability to worship indoors and freely because your beliefs differ from those of government officers. Pray for our brothers and sisters who endure such injustices.