Large Australian Environmental Product Company in China Forced to Shutdown by Chinese Authorities Over Religious Activities; Two Australian Citizens Trapped Inside China
by Staff
November 8, 2007
MIDLAND, Texas, (christiansunite.com) -- CAA learned that in an unprecedented move against a foreigner-owned firm in China, a large Australian company called Enoch Group ( http://www.enochgroup.com/En/Main.asp ) has been raided and attacked by various Chinese government agencies in Guangdong province since August of this year. The two owners of the Enoch Group, Mr. and Mrs. Daniel and Eliza Ng, were even put under house arrest from October 12 to 25, 2007. Their cell phones were confiscated and they were not allowed to go out of their house at the Panyu district, Guangzhou, Guangdong province. After intensive investigation and interviews with both the leaders of the company and some government officials in Guangdong province, China Aid learned that the move to shut down the company and freeze the nearly 100 million Yuan ($13 million) in assets and patents, is purely politically motivated.
High level government sources told CAA that some of the central government leaders were upset that the Enoch Group has hired a large number of Chinese Christians. The Chinese leaders suspect that the Enoch Group uses its company motto, "love, peace, joy and faithfulness", to promote Christianity. Sources said the rather harsh tactic made against Enoch Group is to send a strong warning signal to other foreign businesses in China owned by Christians.
The Enoch group is a well-established ecological company which produces environmentally related products. Mr. and Mrs. Ng are both naturalized Australian citizens, immigrated from Hong Kong. Enoch group has branches in Australia, Hong Kong and mainland China. As a division of Enoch group, Guangzhou Enoch Biological Science and Technology Co., LTD is a bio-engineering corporation, whose research and development focuses on ecological agriculture, amendment of water quality, environmental protection and human health care.
According to the appeal letter sent by Mrs. Ng, both the office and factories of Guangzhou Enoch Biological Science and Technology Co., LTD were first raided by a large group of government agents from the Public Security Bureau, Business Management Bureau on August 21.
More than three dozens employees were interrogated like criminals and some were even beaten and detained for hours in the Panyu district police station. Valuable company assets including 50 computers, check books and sensitive company product formulas were confiscated. On September 13, the government froze both the company's and Mr. & Mrs. Ng's personal assets. On September 22, the Ng's were barred from traveling to Hong Kong from mainland China. On October 12, they were formally put under house arrest with charges of "illegal business management and tax evasion," 5 to 6 plainclothes PSB officers were posted on round-the- clock surveillance outside the Ng's house.
After 13 days of having their home under siege and subsisting on food randomly provided to them by their guards, a chief PSB officer came to their home. The Ng's protested the situation to him, requesting permission to leave their home to obtain food. On October 25, they were given permission to leave their home with restrictions of travel. Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Ng filed petitions and appeals to various officials of Guangdong province and the Australian Consulate in Guangzhou, as well as Hong Kong SAR. So far, they have received no response.
Since their assets were frozen, Rev. and Mrs. Ng need to raise funds to cover legal defense and living expenses, please contact China Aid (www.chinaaid.org ) office to provide further assistance.
"This is clearly a case of religious persecution under the guise of trumpeted charges," said Bob Fu, who has personally known Mr. and Mrs. Ng since 1995. "International investors should be alarmed by the blatant violation of the rule of law in the way this case is being handled."
