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Friday, June 11, 2004 |
CHINESE CHRISTIANS FEAR FOR LIFE OF DISAPPEARED HOUSE CHURCH LEADER
Xu Shuangfu's whereabouts unknown as crack down continues
By: Stefan J. Bos
Special Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
BEIJING / BUDAPEST (ANS) -- Chinese house church leader Xu Shuangfu’s whereabouts and condition are unknown, and Chinese Christians fear for his life after another believer was tortured to death but Chinese police, the Voice Of the Martyrs (VOM) said Friday, June 11.
Xu, leader of the 500-thousand strong house church group "Three Grades Servants" in Henan Province, northeast China, was arrested April 26th, and since then family members have been prevented from seeing him, reported VOM, which investigates the plight of persecuted churches.
He was detained by the Public Security Bureau (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.
If Xu is convicted of leading a so-called “Evil Cult,” he could also face the death penalty, and he may be executed already, VOM said in a statement received by ASSIST News Service (ANS).
NATIONAL SECURITY CASE
It quoted sources as saying that the case against Xu has been handled as a national security case, rather than as a religious-affairs case.
"Local Religious Affairs Bureau (RAB) officials have been excluded from the case, which is being handled by the Department of National Security with orders apparently coming from the highest levels of the Chinese government in Beijing. Authorities have even questioned villagers in Xu’s hometown in Henan Province in their search for evidence against him," the organization added.
Xu Shuangfu has been a well-known house church leader since the 1980s and was arrested more than 20 times, and spent more than 20 years in prison. "This case is being handled as if Pastor Xu was leading some kind of insurrection,” said VOM Spokesman Todd Nettleton. “The fact is that his group simply wants freedom to worship God as they see fit.”
PRESIDENT IN HUNGARY
News about his arrest came as Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Budapest, Hungary, where talks on business were overshadowed by human rights concerns, the ANS Central Europe Bureau in Budapest learned. Jintao refused to answer questions from reporters, however Hungarian President Ferenc Madl called for "the strengthening of human rights in China" without elaborating.
Hungary was the first Communist country in 1989 to protest against the what became known as the "Tiananmen Square massacre" in Beijing of pro democracy protestors.
Jintao's visit was also marred by an incident on Thursday, June 10, when a Chinese diplomat accompanying him reportedly hit peaceful pro-Tibet demonstrators outside the Fine Arts museum in Budapest, where Madl was hosting a dinner for his visitor. The diplomat was escorted from the premises, but police said he could not be charged because of his diplomatic immunity.
PROTEST LETTERS
VOM urged Christians around the world to write to Jintao to improve the situation of believers and specifically "to write polite letters of protest on behalf of Pastor Xu Shuangfu." “We ask that the Chinese government publicly state the charges against Pastor Xu,” said Nettleton, “and we ask that his family be allowed visiting rights in keeping with Chinese law.”
He said letters can be addressed to Hu Jintao, President People's Republic of China, Beijing, People's Republic of China or Ambassador Yang Jiechi, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, 2300 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC 20008, United States. The E-mail is: chinaembassy_us@fmprc.gov.cn
This latest crackdown has been linked by some analysts to fear among China's communist authorities to lose control over Christians a time when the country is reportedly experiencing the fastest church growth in the world.
Read more on these and other news stories on news agency BosNewsLife at website http://www.bosnewslife.com
10:54:04 PM 
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© 2004 Radio Free China
Last Update: 7/1/2004; 9:16:59 AM
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