Pastor's Trial Indicative of Religious Persecution in China, Says Activist
by Allie Martin
July 11, 2005
(AgapePress) - The president of an organization with a mission to tell the truth about Christian persecution in China says the recent arrest of a Chinese Christian pastor should be protested by the international community.Pastor Cai Zhuohua is on trial for illegally printing more than 200,000 Bibles and other Christian literature. He was arrested in September 2004. Jason Lee Steorts reported in National Review in January that the pastor's house was searched by police from China's Security Bureau, as was a neighboring building that housed a printing press. Two press operators were arrested along with Cai, but were later released. The pastor's trial was to have occurred last week in Beijing, says the China Aid Association.
Bob Fu is president of the Texas-based China Aid Association. He says despite its claims, China does not uphold religious freedom.
"We have seen more pastors arrested and ... put in jail, and numerous churches destroyed," Fu relates. "The persecution has been intensified. I think China's political leaders are now taking a very hard line policy against the unregistered churches."
Since 1999, the U.S. State Department has designated China as a country of concern for religious freedom violations. Fu is urging the international community to demand that the Communist Chinese regime respect religious rights.
"We Christians should urge both the U.S. government ... and the Chinese embassies in the U.S. to press the Chinese government to act quickly to address the serious religious persecution and violation of religious freedom guaranteed by China's U.N. constitution," he says.
In April Fu testified before the U.N. Commission on Human Rights about Pastor Cai's plight. He was escorted from the proceedings after brandishing an "electric baton" he contended is one of the favorite torture devices employed the Chinese police -- and impling a similar device had likely been used repeatedly on Pastor Cai during "interrogations."
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
