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China arrests Christians at Christmas Eve service
by Scott Gilbreath ~ December 26th, 2008
China launched a widespread crackdown on Christians during the Christmas season. Public Security Bureau (PSB) agents raided a house church on Christmas Eve and took nine women into custody.
They, “were reenacting the nativity [scene] on the street, and police charged the women with “organizing illegal religious activities. ” The women, including Yue Zengyun who led the group, are currently being held at Detention Center of Yucheng County,” CAA [China Aid Association] told BosNewsLife. “The PSB officers demanded the family members pay a fine for the women to be released,” the group said.
On 22 December, security forces arrested 19 students and two pastors during Bible teaching sessions at a house church in Dianlong village, Anhui province. The next day, authorities pronounced the school illegal, ordered it permanently closed, and threatened to demolish the building.
China maintains that it only sics the cops on “dangerous sects”.
China’s government has denied human rights abuses, saying it only targets “illegal groups” and what it considers as “dangerous sects”. It says China’s up to 130 million Christians are free to worship with the state-backed churches.
Some “freedom”. Do it our way or we’ll bust you.
Anyway, even registered churches aren’t safe.
The morning of December 17, 2008, police officers, together with nearly a thousand unidentified people, led by government officials from Yancheng city, Jiangsu province and real estate developers, forcibly demolished the Chengnan Christian Church of Tinghu District. The destruction of this registered church came less than 24 hours after the church won a court case protecting their building against the same individuals who attacked it. The mob took away property belonging to the church and beat more than10 Christians. Contacts report that the destruction was the result of government officials and powerful businessmen working in collusion to obtain the coveted church property by force.
For more reports of official persecution of China’s Christians in recent days, click here or here.
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December 28th, 2008 at 11:02 PM
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December 29th, 2008 at 06:13 AM
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