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Tuesday, June 15, 2004 |
100 EVANGELICAL LEADERS ARRESTED AS CHINA LAUNCHES MAJOR CRACKDOWN
Human rights groups urge China to release Christians amid concern about their lives
By: Stefan J. Bos
Special Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
BEIJING , CHINA (ANS) -- Two human rights watchdogs appealed to China Tuesday, June 15, to release over 100 evangelical church leaders who they say were arrested last week after the Communist government issued a "secret directive" to launch a massive crackdown against religious groups and promote Atheism.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide said it had joined China Aid Association (CAA) in urging the Chinese authorities to release the leaders of China Gospel Fellowship who were "arrested June 11" at Wuhan city, Hubei province, where that retreated together.
In a statement to ASSIST News Service, CAA quoted an unidentified senior house church leader and an eyewitness as saying that about 50 police believed to be from the feared Public Security Bureau (PSB) of Wuhan City raided the church meeting and arrested all of the participants.
They included the 39-year old senior Gospel Fellowship leader Mr. Xing Jinfu, CAA said. The organization added that Xing was arrested at least three times in the past for his Christian activities and sentenced to three years re-education through labor in 1996 on charges of “illegal preaching.”
CAA said it had also learned that in a separate incident China Gospel Fellowship Pastor Shen Xianfeng was put under house arrest at a residential area in Wuhan city after PSB officers "thoroughly searched a house where Mr. Shen was recovering from illness of his crippled legs."
WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN
The whereabouts of the other arrested church officials are still unknown, CAA said. China Gospel Fellowship, which was established in the mid-1980s, is one of five major Chinese house church groups with a combined membership of at least five million members.
CAA said it has learned from an internal source within Chinese Communist Party that the Politburo had recently convened in a special secret meeting discussing “how to deal with religious affairs in China”.
It quoted the source as saying "a secret directive was issued after the meeting calling every level of the Chinese government and the Party to crack down" against “illegal religious activities.” The directive also urged the Communist Party's Department of Propaganda to carry out a special media campaign to promote atheism, CAA said.
MASSIVE ARRESTS
“Given the recent massive arrests of unregistered religious leaders in different areas in China”, added Bob Fu, president of CAA, “the international community should be alarmed and take concrete actions to urge the Chinese government to fulfill her signed pledge to protect her citizens’ religious freedom mandated by relevant international human rights covenants.”
The latest reported crackdown comes just days after another Christian human rights group, The Voice Of the Martyrs (VOM) said Chinese house church leader Xu Shuangfu’s whereabouts and condition are unknown, and that Chinese Christians fear for his life as another believer was already tortured to death.
Xu, leader of the 500-thousand strong house church group "Three Grades Servants" in Henan Province, northeast China, was arrested April 26, and since then family members have been prevented from seeing him, reported VOM. He could face the death penalty if convicted of leading an "Evil Cult".
BEATEN TO DEATH
He was detained by the PSB in Harbin City, Heilongjiang province, along with other believers including Gu Xianggao, a teacher of the group. Gu, 28, was beaten to death the next day while in the custody of PSB officers, his family and human rights watchdogs say.
CAA and Christian Solidarity Worldwide have urged Christians to press the Chinese authorities to release these arrested church leaders immediately. They said that in the United States a letter of concern can be written to the Chinese embassy in Washington DC: Ambassador Yang Jiechi, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, 2300 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC 20008. Telephone numbers were said to be (202) 328-2500 or fax: (202) 588-0032. The Director of Religious Affairs can be reached at: (202) 328-2512, CAA said.
The Chinese President Hu Jintao, who visited Budapest last week, has refused to answer questions from reporters about human rights issues. But analysts have linked the latest crackdown to concern among Communist authorities about the rapidly growing churches in China. Besides individuals known to human rights groups, thousands of Christians and dissidents are believed to be detained across China in prisons and labor camps.
Read more on these and other news stories on news agency BosNewsLife at website http://www.bosnewslife.com
. 7:22:45 PM 
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HOW IS IT POSSIBLE?
By the Reverend Nguyen Hong Quang
“How is it possible?” These are the words of a ranking foreign diplomat of a Western country when he heard the story of what happened in Dong Nai and the various ways that Christians were oppressed. This diplomat, who in many ways supports the bilateral relationship between our two countries and supports the development of Vietnam, was so sceptical that he blurted out, “How is it possible that a province which is growing economically and which enjoys a lot of foreign investment, and whose standard of living is rising, is not also advancing human rights but is on the contrary is said to be persecuting Christians?
Confronted with such views and ideas from the diplomat, I was at once angry and sad. I was angry because the people responsible for causing these events “live above the law” and have a low view of our citizens and of humanity in general in the 21st Century. They do not value human beings, they violate the basic rights of people – the human rights that have been the desire of people for ages – and they have the power to deny the natural aspirations for freedom of the citizens of Vietnam.
I was sad because this country has heard too many politicians say we should serve the high calling of “freedom, democracy and independence”, while hundreds of thousands of human beings have fallen in our homeland. At this time many suffer great hardships, even for simply trying to exercise the minimum right of “gathering to worship the Almighty” and are savagely beaten. The world has been exploding with social aspirations and advanced technology. Huge changes are taking place all over, affecting many governments like a strong whirlwind, bringing some of them to an end. The choice seems to be “develop, change and survive” or “disintegrate and fade away.”
How is it possible? Is it possible that the extreme confusion of the diplomat when faced with the fact of this repression is evidence that he does not want to admit such things happen? His diplomatic work is to wholeheartedly foster relationships so that his country will understand and support Vietnam. The diplomat seems to believe in the philosophy that says “Develop the economy and raise the standard of living, and the valuing of human rights and freedoms will inevitably follow.”
He has his beliefs, and I have my belief that the Bible’s teaching is accurate when it speaks on principles governing humanity. Matthew 6:33 “But seek first his kingdom, and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
If a country honours and places a higher value on things spiritual (as the Kingdom of God, righteousness, etc.) than on material matter and economics, then that country will enjoy peace, stability and development. Compare the countries that respect the Creator and respect human rights, with countries which denigrate the Creator and trample on human rights. You will see clearly that those which respect the Creator and honour human rights are blessed, and those which disdain the Creator and flaunt human rights seem to be cursed. The difference between South and North Korea is a stark example. The South has a large section of the population that worships the Creator and the country respects human rights, while the North completely puts down the Creator and tramples on human rights is in an incredibly desperate condition. (The two Germanys formerly and the two Koreas today are clear and concrete examples.)
The Bible teaches in Genesis that in the beginning was God and that the world, the atmosphere, plants, animals, people and other things were created later. To raise the creation higher than the Creator is contrary to the Bible, as is putting material things ahead of the freedom to worship, to enjoy authentic human dignity and democracy and other human rights.
If an evil person is very rich but lives an openly debauched life, then the morality of all society will suffer, and a dictator who has in his hands the means, the authority and the powerful, will use them to strangle freedom, democracy, and faith and morality.
The bankrupt policy of promoting economic development ahead of the values of freedom, democracy and human rights, though it seems to have the advantage in the beginning of winning outside favour, is contrary to the laws of the Creator and so how can it be supported? We have had nearly two decades of so-called “renovation”, and a decade without the US embargo, but the situation of human rights and religious freedom for us Vietnamese has gone nowhere. Ask the Christians in Dong Nai.
So the prioritizing of what “seems right to man” – that is putting a priority on promoting economic development and ties – has worked out precisely contrary to the hopes and desires of the diplomacy of countries which enjoy democracy.
Evangelists Ms. Pham Thi Kim Huong, Ms. Trinh Thi Kim Phuong, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Trung, and Mr. Dang Dang Khoa are servants of the Lord who had their house of worship smashed. Then were cuffed and dragged away in front of their flock and before the villagers by Dong Nai security police and government officials on May 2, 2004. They were treated as criminals and thrown into a stinking vehicle used to transport pigs. The humiliation which the Mennonite pastors, evangelists in Dong Nai had to endure was a great disgrace, but they bravely endured with dignity.
How many times have the faithful been trampled on in Dong Nai? Only the perpetrators know, but nothing is hidden from God – not one of the evil acts in Dong Nai province.
As for the diplomat, he may continue to ask incredulously, “How is it possible?” in reference to our struggle for religious freedom, and the efforts of our government which has recently cranked up its positive announcements and propaganda efforts whilst in actual practice continues it’s dirty deeds in Dong Nai. Dong Nai province has given the diplomat a clear answer with its unreasonable and steady harassment and persecution of the believers continuously from Easter until now. And this is but one small example of a widespread reality.
As a citizen of Vietnam I have a question. “How is it possible that the government machinery in Dong Nai Province is unaware that it has broken the law according to Article 129 of the Criminal Code of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam?” Local officials continue to deny the right of assembly and the right to worship God, giving orders to suppress Christianity, as has just happened again. How is it possible that government officials in Dong Nai continue to treat Christianity as an enemy and no one takes any action at all?
Respectfully,
Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang
Links
1) Vietnam Police Arrest Nguyen Hong Quang
Special to Compass Direct
http://www.compassdirect.org
HO CHI MINH CITY, 10 June 2004
2) Vietnam faces call to free pastor
AFP, 11 June 2004
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/040611/1/3kz6q.html
. 7:21:23 PM
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VIETNAM: “HOW IS IT POSSIBLE?” BY REV. NGUYEN HONG QUANG
By Elizabeth Kendal
World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (WEA RLC)
Special to ASSIST News Service
AUSTRALIA (ANS) -- This posting on Vietnam is long because it covers three issues and publishes here in full, one report and one statement from Vietnam.
The first part of the posting details the arrest of the Reverend Nguyen Hong Quang, General Secretary of the Vietnam Mennonite Church.
The second part is a 21 May report by Truong Tri Hien and Pastor (Ms.) Pham Thi Kim Huong on the persecution of the Mennonite congregation in Dong Nai province.
The third part is an article by the Rev. Quang that addresses the issue of the relationship between economic development and human rights. Much Western diplomacy is driven by the misguided assumption that economic development leads to improvements in human rights. Rev. Quang regards this policy “of promoting economic development ahead of the values of freedom, democracy and human rights” as “bankrupt”. He believes that because this policy puts the creation above the values of the Creator, it is futile, as God will not bless it. While this article was written in the weeks before his arrest, it is now in every sense Rev. Quang’s cry from his prison cell.
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ARREST OF THE REVEREND NGUYEN HONG QUANG
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The Reverend Nguyen Hong Quang, the General Secretary of the Vietnam Mennonite Church, was arrested on 8 June. As a trained lawyer Rev. Quang also heads the legal committee of the Vietnam Evangelical Fellowship (of house churches).
According to Compass Direct, the police restrained Rev. Quang’s wife and children while they ransacked the Mennonite offices in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 2, which also serves as the church and the family’s home. The police seized personal papers, legal documents, money, computers and human rights files. (Link 1)
One Vietnam observer comments that Reverend Quang has been an uncompromising activist for religious freedom in Vietnam, opposing and exposing discrimination and persecution. “More than any other Protestant activist, he has documented harassment and persecution, not only against Mennonite house churches but against other groups who seek his assistance. What he documents with great care and detail are blatant violations of freedoms supposedly guaranteed Vietnamese citizens under its own laws, and affirmed in international agreements Vietnam has signed. His reports place a large question mark over the prevailing idea among diplomats that human rights progress is being made.
“The Rev. Quang’s activism is not only for religious freedom but also for social justice for the most marginalized – the urban poor, and the oppressed ethnic minorities. This activism has earned him the special antipathy of the State that more than once it has tried to do him serious harm.”
A Vietnamese pastor close to the case told Compass Direct that he understood that Rev. Quang has been charged with “conspiring to get others to resist officers of the law doing their duty”. Allegedly this charge relates to scuffles that broke out during an incident on 2 March when a large contingent of police attacked a number Christians after the Christians had photographed an undercover stakeout near their church. At that time four other Mennonite Evangelists were arrested and are still being held without charge.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called for Reverend Quang’s release, adding, “Quang's arrest appears to be part of the Vietnamese government's mounting repression of activists who promote human rights or religious freedom. Once again, Vietnam's government has shown it will go to any length to silence those who dare to speak out about religious repression, arbitrary confiscation of land, and the rights of ethnic minorities.” (Link 2)
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PERSECUTION IN DONG NAI
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On 21 May 2004, leaders of the Vietnam Mennonite Church wrote a report on the increasing levels of harassment and persecution being experienced by the Mennonite congregation in Dong Nai province at the hands of the authorities. Here is that report, published in full.
TRANSLATION OF 21 MAY 2004 REPORT
Dong Nai, 21 May 2004
REPORT To:
Mennonite World Conference
North American Vietnamese Mennonite Fellowship
Mennonite Church in Vietnam
Ref: Dong Nai authorities increase persecution and repression on the Vinh Cuu, Dong Nai congregation of the Mennonite Church in Vietnam.
Since we sent the report of the incident about the Dong Nai security police repressing the Vinh Cuu (Dong Nai province) congregation of the Vietnam Mennonite Church on Easter Sunday [Apríl 11, 2004], immediately following that the oppressive force against the Church has escalated significantly.
Continuously since that time on the Sundays of April 18, 25, May 2, 9, and 16, 2004, whenever the Church meets the authorities surround, repress and terrorize the believers. The traffic police forces stand ready at street entrances to the Church and use all methods to detain all vehicles of believers who come to worship God.
The Thanh Phu town security police on April 12-16, 2004 asked the families of all the believers and all the deacons from the Church to come to the station for questioning and used all methods to force them to sign an agreement to no longer go to worship the Lord at the Mennonite Church at Vinh Cuu, Dong Nai where Ms. Pham Thi Kim Huong officiates. The authorities from Thanh Phu town in Vinh Cuu district cut off the electricity and forbid any neighbors to run electric lines over to the church. This has interrupted the activities of the church and has almost shut it down.
On April 21 and 22, 2004 the Thanh Phu town authorities wrote four letters asking Ms. Pham Thi Kim Huong to come to their offices to resolve the matter of the believers who were temporarily residing at the church. (She was given summonses for 8:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 10:30 Am and 3:00 PM on the same day.) The authorities are always using every means to evict the Evangelical believers from the church. On April 27, 2004 Ms. Pham Thi Kim Huong officially sent a petition to the highest level of authorities charging religious suppression at Thanh Phu town, but Thanh Phu town not only did not resolve the matter, but escalated the persecution of the Church.
On May 2, 2004 while around 20 believers were worshiping the Lord at the church, the hamlet authorities surrounded the building and demanded that the believers dismiss the meeting. The Church closed the door for worship, but outside more than 30 security police and secret police surrounded the building and had some women screaming and banging on the door of the church. While the believers were worshiping the Lord the security police rudely broke down the door and broke the glass panes with the glass fragments striking the believers causing some bloody injuries. The security police rushed into the building, handcuffing Ms. Huong and eight other believers, leading them out of the church in front of the citizens and believers, throwing them into stinking vehicles used to transport pigs, and taking the Mennonite pastors and evangelists to the security police post while their hands were tied up, and kept them like criminals from 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM when they were released. There are still marks of her injuries on the hands of Ms. Huong from the handcuffs, the pushing and scuffling... The security police also rushed into the building and searched everything to look for cameras... So we do not have any pictures showing the actions of the police damage to the church.
On this past May 16, 2004 while the believers were worshiping the Lord, the security police united with the [government] religious committee rushed into the church and boldly declared to the believers that they were attending an illegal meeting, prepared a citation and requested that the meeting be immediately dismissed... The [government] religious committee repeatedly said that this had nothing to do with religion, while at the same time demanded that the people sign a statement that they would not meet with the Mennonite Church (they terrorized the morale by forcing people to sign), which was against their promise! It was truly a two-faced comedy "deceiving the naive."
This series of repressive government actions attempting to isolate and disperse the Church has been a crisis and extreme confrontation for the people who live in the area and for the Mennonite believers. Ms. Huong is up in years so her health has deteriorated and she has become sick. The number of believers meeting to worship the Lord has also clearly declined–from more than 80 believers on 11 April 2004 to around 50 on 25 April 2004 to only 20 on 2 May 2004; on 16 May 2004 only 18 believers met.
Pray for the believers of the Vietnam Mennonite Church at Vinh Cuu, Dong Nai that they can stand up as the government assails their faith. Pray also for Dong Nai province, a province with much foreign investment that is developing materially but the authorities lag behind the times, repressing the Evangelical Christian faith. Ask the Lord to raise up worthy authorities "servants of the Lord" who will do good, so that those who do evil will fear, not the "Evangelical Christians fear" (Romans 13:4).
Sincerely,
Truong Tri Hien (First Assistant General Secretary of Vietnam Mennonite Church) Pham Thi Kim Huong (Administrator of Vinh Cuu, Dong Nai Mennonite Church and head of Women’s Commission of Vietnam Mennonite Church)
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HOW IS IT POSSIBLE?
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One Western diplomat, when presented with the above information, in virtual disbelief responded with the question, “How is it possible?”
The following statement is Reverend Nguyen Hong Quang’s response to that question.
One Vietnam observer comments that Rev. Quang’s response addresses “the often unspoken but deep faith of diplomats in promoting modernization, economic development and integration into the global economy as a means to achieving human rights”.
This observer comments, “In my observations over two decades, diplomats in Vietnam have tended to think the best about Vietnam’s leaders, and tried to believe the fiction that the awful ongoing human rights abuses are the work of a few local renegades.
“It is possible that diplomats and journalists and other observers, often with non-religious worldviews themselves, and chiefly from countries which have marginalized religion, will not understand what is being said in Pastor Quang’s response, and will reject the religious motivations which form his arguments. That is regrettable, because it confirms their inability to understand the integral way in which religious human rights and all the others are linked.
“Uncompromising advocates such a Pastor Quang and well-know Fathers Chan Tin and Nguyen Van Ly, are much needed in the advocacy community. We advocates may not entirely agree with all their approaches, but we should be humble enough to listen to them and realize we do not walk in their shoes. They provide us with an often-uncomfortable plumbline against which to measure true freedom. We dismiss them with their foibles to our own detriment.”
. 7:20:26 PM
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UNHCR TO OPEN OFFICE ON VIETNAM-CAMBODIA BORDER [RFA]
PHNOM PENH—Cambodia has agreed to let the U.N. refugee agency open two offices along the Vietnamese border to aid minority Montagnards fleeing alleged persecution in Vietnam, RFA's Khmer service reports. "We plan to allow the UNHCR to open offices to access the Montagnards, but we still need the cooperation of the local authorities in that area," Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak told RFA on Monday. [more]
. 2:00:07 PM
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Political Prisoner Dies in Detention
By Shah Paung
A political prisoner died in detention of heart disease at the weekend, according to a statement issued by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), or AAPP, yesterday. [more]
. 1:45:36 PM
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LAOS: The Disturbing Prospect for Religious Freedom
By Magda Hornemann, Forum 18 News Service
The religious freedom picture in Laos is complex, not least due to non-religious factors such as ethnicity, and the state's opposition to freedom of information. However, it does appear that religious freedom conditions have improved in the last few years. But the central government's political agenda remains fundamentally hostile to religious freedom, despite government claims that religious freedom violations are caused by an alleged inability to control local officials. This hostility as manifested in "isolated" incidents of religious freedom violations – against Protestants, Buddhists, Animists, Baha'is, Muslims and Catholics - seems set to continue. [more]
. 1:43:49 PM
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Chinese Web Activists Fight for Freedom of Expression [The Epoch Times]
An increasing number of Chinese activists are taking their battle for freedom of expression online, waging a guerilla-style warfare of dissenting political opinion from the country's bulletin boards, chat rooms and setting up rapidly moving Web sites...
. 1:37:48 PM
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More Than 100 More House Church Leaders Arrested; High Level Government Meeting on Religion Reported [China Aid]
China Aid Association has learned from a reliable source that more than 100 leaders of China Gospel Fellowship (CGF) were arrested on June 11, 2004. The massive arrest took place at Wuhan city, Hubei province while these church leaders were having a retreat together. According to a senior house church leader and an eyewitness of the arrest both of whom want to remain anonymous for security reason, about 50 police believed from PSB of Wuhan City raided the church meeting around 2:00pm and arrested all of the participants including one of the senior CGF leaders Mr. Xing Jinfu(photo attached). Mr. Xing Jinfu, 39-year-old, was arrested at least three times in the past for his church activities. He was sentenced to three years re-education through labor in 1996 for his accused “illegal preaching.” The whereabouts of the arrested are still unknown. At the same day, according to a reliable source of China Aid, the well-known leader of CGF pastor Shen Xianfeng was put under house arrest at a residential area in Wuhan city after the PSB thoroughly searched a house where Mr. Shen was recovering from illness of his crippled legs. China Gospel Fellowship was established in mid-1980s. It is one of the five major Chinese house church groups with estimated at least five million members.
China Aid also learned from an internal source of the Chinese Communist Party that the Politburo of the CCP had recently convened a special secret meeting discussing “how to deal with religious affairs in China”. According to the source, a secret directive was issued after the meeting calling every level of the Chinese government and the Party to crack down the “illegal religious activities.” The directive also urged the CCP’s Department of Propaganda to carry out a special media campaign to promote atheism.
“Given the recent massive arrests of unregistered religious leaders in different areas in China”, said Bob Fu, president of China Aid Association, “the international community should be alarmed and take concrete actions to urge the Chinese government to fulfill her signed pledge to protect her citizens’ religious freedom mandated by relevant international human rights covenants.”
CAA urges the Chinese authorities to release these arrested church leaders immediately. People of conscience in the US could send a letter of concern to the Chinese embassy in Washington DC:
Ambassador Yang Jiechi
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC 20008
Tel:(202) 328-2500 Fax:(202) 588-0032
Director of Religious Affairs: (202) 328-2512
Issued by China Aid Association, Inc. on June 13, 2004.
See our website
. 1:35:10 PM
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Beijing Worried about Zhao Ziyang’s Nobel Peace Prize Nomination [The Epoch Times]
Fifteen years after the Tiananmen Massacre, Chinese leaders are still apprehensive of Zhao Ziyang, former Communist Party General Secretary who opposed the military crackdown of students. While the Chinese leaders are trying to wipe out his...
. 1:32:57 PM
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Chinese government creates web vigilante site. "A number of government organizations including the Information Office of the State Council, the Ministry of Information Industry and the Bureau of Foreign Languages have launched a new website where netizens can report illegal or inappropriate information being disseminated online.... [China Digital News]
. 1:28:06 PM
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© 2004 Radio Free China
Last Update: 7/1/2004; 9:11:53 AM
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