2016 Annual Report Chinese Government Persecution of Churches and Christians in Mainland China January–December 2016

China Aid Association, USA 02/01/ 2017

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Contents I.

II. III.

IV. V.

Introduction: Sinicization officially unveiled, Party’s shadow envelops churches and Christians in mainland China …………………………………………5 Overview of Government Persecution of Churches and Christians in Mainland China in 2016……………………..16 Statistics and Schematic Analysis of Government Persecution of Churches and Christians in Mainland China…………………………………………34 A Partial List of Persecution Cases in 2016…………………………………………..39 Conclusion……………………………………55

“The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever.” Psalm 29:10 from the Old Testament

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I.

Introduction: Sinicization officially unveiled, Party’s shadow envelops churches and Christians in mainland China

2016 heralded key changes to religious freedom in mainland China as the Chinese Communist Party’s [CCP] core principle in managing religious affairs changed from “active guidance of religion and socialism to mutually adapt” to “persistently following the path of religious Sinicization.” Ushered in by the National Conference on Religious Work in April 2016, these alterations mark a critical shift in how the Party views the ideal operation of religion within its own society, as the ideology switches from the mutual adaptation of socialism and religion to a complete renovation that fits the government’s agenda. Three aspects illustrate this major turning point: 1. For the first time since 2001, the CCP held the National Conference of Religious Work in April 2016. Chinese president Xi Jinping reiterated that “religion should persistently follow the path of Sinicization,” echoing his speech at the United Work Front Department’s conference in September 2015. The government has officially recognized this mantra as the new driving principle of its religious policy. 2. The State Administration of Religious Affairs delivered the so-called Revised Draft of Regulations on Religious Affairs (To Be Approved) in September 2016, implementing the new ideology on a legislative level and paving the road for the legal management of religions. 3. Finally, in order to echo the new draft, local religious departments of government introduced a series of corresponding laws and regulations. i. Before the National Conference of Religious Work: high-ranking CCP officials paved the way for Sinicization On March 8, while the National People's Congress (NPC) and National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) were being held, Yu Zhengsheng, a member of the Standing Committee of the Central Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China and chairman of the CPPCC, emphasized “persistently following the path of religious Sinicization” to a delegation from Henan. When collecting feedback from religious delegates regarding “cultivating religious talents” on March 11, Wang Zhengwei, Vice Chairman of the CPPCC, deputy head of the Central United Front Work Department, and chairman of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, also emphasized “persistently following the path of religious Sinicization” and “guiding religions and socialist society to mutually adapt.” In early April, with the approval of CCP leaders, the State Administration of Religious Affairs decreed and delivered “The Opinion of the State Administration of Religious Affairs about Further Advancing, Cultivating and Implementing Socialist Core Values in the Religious Community” to religious departments in local governments, so that they might plan activities to deepen the cultivation and implementation of core socialist values. ii. The National Conference on Religion with the highest standards In Dec. 2001, Jiang Zemin said, “religion ought to adapt to socialism” at the National Conference of Religious Work. 15 years later, on April 22 and 23, 2016, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council held the National Conference of Religious Work, and Xi Jinping delivered a long speech. He emphasized the basic principles for religious work established 15 years ago, including managing religious affairs according to 5

the law, adhering to the principles of independence and autonomy, and actively guiding religions to adapt to socialism. He even emphasized policy guidelines from the 1950s, such as, “the United Front Work Department ought to take on the responsibility of initiation and coordination; departments of religious affairs ought to take on the responsibility of management according to the law; all the concerned agencies as well as the Trade Union, the Communist Youth League, the Women’s Federation and the Science Council ought to make a joint effort to guarantee success in religious work.” Most notably, Xi’s speech at the conference addressed “actively guiding religions and socialist society to adapt mutually and persistently following the path of Sinicization.” This concept tops the list of the “four musts” he gave: “We must adhere to the direction of Sinicization; we must promote the rule of law when managing religious affairs; we must hold a dialectical view of religion’s social function; we must bring into full play the role of religious people.” As the supreme leader of China, Xi identified “actively guiding religions and socialism to mutually adapt” as an important aspect of supporting religious Sinicization. In this way, the Party introduced the Sinicization campaign. iii. Central government agencies and state-sanctioned religious groups directly and indirectly involved in management of religion After the National Conference of Religious Work, a large number of central government agencies involved in religious management started to implement the conference’s essential points. At a meeting presided over by Zhang Yijiong, the executive deputy head of the CCP’s United Front Work Department. Director Wang Zuo’an from the State Administration for Religious Affairs relayed the message of the conference. Xue Cheng, president of the Buddhist Association of China, Li Guangfu, president of the Daoist Association of China, Guo Chengzhen, vice president and secretary general of the Islamic Association of China, Fang Xingyao, chairman of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, and Gao Feng, chairman of the China Christian Council, all spoke. On July 12, state mouthpiece newspaper the People’s Daily published an article, entitled, “Religions in our country ought to persist in the path to Sinicization.” In an effort to implement Sinicization, government departments hosted several different meetings: From Sept. 1-7, the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, and the State Administration for Religious Affairs co-hosted a seminar on theories and policies for provincial-level officials. Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and a member of the Standing Committee of the Central Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China, Liu Yandong, vice premier of the People’s Republic of China and a member of the Central Politburo of the Communist Party of China, and Sun Chunlan addressed the attendees. On Sept. 26, the State Administration for Religious Affairs hosted a seminar on “Religions in 6

China persistently following the path of Sinicization” in Beijing. On Oct.10, the State Administration for Religious Affairs held a meeting marking the official founding of the joint conference system for national religious groups. In his speech, Wang Zuo’an highlighted the purpose of the National Religious Groups’ Joint Conference as the platform for study, communication, cooperation, and dialogue. First and foremost, he said it would be a medium for studying the message of the National Conference of Religious Work, especially the speech delivered by President Xi. iv. Conferences on religious work held Three differences characterized this year’s “All-Province (Muncipalities and Districts) Conferences on Religious Work,” which were held from June to the end of December 2016 for all government departments from the provincial level and lower, differentiating them from conferences held in previous years. First, their programs consisted of the same topic: studying and implementing Xi Jinping’s speech. Second, these conferences all bore the name “AllProvince (Muncipalities and Districts) Conferences on Religious Work,” while the name of such conferences in previous years was often “All-Province (Muncipalities and Districts) Conference on Ethnic and Religious Affairs.” In 2016, “ethnic” was missing from the name of these conferences. Third, each locality employed the highest standards for its conference, as evidenced by a keynote speech from the local CCP Secretary and the attendance of Party committee members, representatives from the National People’s Congress, government agents, the general secretary of the local Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, representatives from the higher level government agencies, colleges and universities, stateowned enterprises, the people responsible for the subordinate departments correlated to the Party committee, the chief of the United Front Work Department, and the director of the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau. In previous years, the primary speech was usually delivered by the head of the United Front Work Department and deputy leaders of government agencies. Two conferences held in Ningxia in 2016 amply demonstrated the aforementioned changes. On Jan. 28, prior to the National Conference of Religious Work, Ningxia’s All-District Conference on Ethnic and Religious Work conveyed the purport of the National Conference on Ethnic Work in Cities, the National Conference for Directors of the Administration of Ethnic Affairs, and the National Conference for Directors of the Administration of Religious Affairs. The distinguished agencies and individuals in the “Third All-Region Cultivation of Harmonious Temples and Churches” campaign were praised and awarded, a summary of the work done in 2015 was delivered, and future plans were made for 2016. At this conference, Ma Jinhu, a standing member of the Regional Party Committee and chairman of the United Front Work Department, and Ma Li, vice-chairman of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, delivered keynote speeches. No other attendees were mentioned in news reports addressing this conference. However, Ningxia’s All-Region Conference on Religion was held on Dec. 24 bearing the name and standard of the conference, just as described above. v. The new edition of the Regulations on Religious Affairs intends to legalize religious Sinicization 7

On Sept. 7, the State Council of China’s Legal System Office released the Revised Draft of Regulations on Religious Affairs (To Be Approved), which contains nine chapters and 74 articles. Chapter four of the Revised Draft of Regulations on Religious Affairs enacted stricter restrictions on sites of religious activities. For the first time, it specified that the establishment of a religious site must be approved by the county, city, and provincial-level religious departments. The draft expanded the power of grassroots officials, prescribing that “township governments or the community office ought to monitor temporary activity sites; the villagers’ affairs office and the residents’ committee ought to assist people’s governments in managing religious affairs,” which clearly tightens the Party’s control on religion and restrictions on people’s religious beliefs. Some of the new proposed articles include prohibitions on “organizing citizens to attend religious trainings, conferences, and activities abroad,” restrictions on “accepting unapproved donations from abroad and teaching posts in foreign countries,” and “organizing religious activities in unapproved religious sites.” New articles also emphasize state security and take precautions against secessionism, terrorism, and infiltration of foreign powers, which the Chinese government believes foreign-based religions instigate. The new revisions also prohibit “preaching, organizing religious activities, and establishing religious institutions or religious sites at schools” and “providing religious services through the internet.” Chapter 12 of the draft says, “Religious schools are established by national religious groups or by the religious groups of provinces, autonomous regions, and directly-governed municipalities. Other organizations or individuals must not establish religious schools.” This makes it illegal for house churches and churches abroad to establish seminaries in China and provides legal grounds for the government to crackdown on underground Christian seminaries and underground religious schools set up by other religions. According to the draft, Christian house churches must receive government approval for all of their activities, including registration, activity sites, temporary activity locations, training abroad, seminary, donation, missionary work, online service, and the appointment of clergy. In other words, provisions in the draft declare all the activities of Christian house churches as illegal and render the legalization of these institutions impossible. The draft invoked active responses from Christian scholars, rights defense lawyers, and many pastors and church members. On Sept. 20, 24 pastors, scholars, and lawyers across China sent a letter to the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress, demanding the interpretation of Article 36 and Article 89 of China’s Constitution in terms of “freedom of religious belief,” and asking the Committee to stop collecting public feedback on the draft before providing the interpretation. There has been no response to the letter. Christians in Pingyang, a county of Wenzhou, Zhejiang, sent out more than 1,000 suggestions to the draft, but none of these letters left Wenzhou. By Sept. 30, Shunfeng Delivery Services stopped accepting such letters. The delivery business’s interception of these letters and denial of service are believed to be the results of government interference. 8

Therefore, the “collection of public feedback” was nothing more than a formality. vi. The theoretical construction of Christianity’s Sinicization: distorting and attempting to disintegrate the biblical truths Sinicization is mainly implemented by the national and provincial China Christian Council [CCC] and Three Self-Patriotic Movement—which make up the two official Christian organizations in Chinese government—in three ways: organizing a theology teaching group to disseminate the doctrine of Chinese Christianity; organizing studies about the purpose of the National Conference on Religion; and studying the Revised Draft of Regulations on Religious Affairs. The State Administration of Religious Affairs From May 31-June 5, 2016, the State Administration of Religious Affairs hosted a training class in Beijing for leaders from the Christian community, instructing them on how to carry out the core message the National Conference on Religion. In the afternoon of Oct. 11, Deputy Chair Chen Zongrong spoke at the Seminar on China’s Circumstances, which was hosted by the State Administration of Religious Affairs for young and mid-aged pastors from Hong Kong and headed by Pastor Pang Jianxin, the chairman of The Hong Kong Chinese Christian Churches Union. Chen trained attendees on the message of the National Conference on Religion, the Revised Draft of Regulations on Religious Affairs, and other issues related to Christianity and dialogued with them about the Sinicization of Christianity. China Christian Council (CCC) and National Committee of Three-Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches in China (TSPM) On Feb. 26, the Conference on Propagandizing Chinese Christianity’s Theological Construction was held in Shanghai, attended by 120 people including the people responsible for the national and provincial CCC and TSPM departments, members of the state-run propaganda team, government departments over autonomous regions, and governments from directly administered municipalities. In early April, more than 60 people, including from the national CCC and TSPM, the chairman or director of the provincial CCC and TSPM, autonomous region governments, and directly administered municipality governments, attended a seminar on Christianity’s Sinicization in Shanghai, hosted by the national CCC and TSPM. On Aug. 17, the national CCC and TSPM hosted a special report meeting on implementing the central message of the National Conference on Religious Affairs. Deputy Director Chen Zongrong delivered a keynote speech on how to study and carry out Sinicization. On Aug. 30, while conducting research in Shanghai, Sun Chunlan, Minister of the United Front Work Department and a member of the Central Politburo of the Communist Party of China, visited the national CCC and TSPM and expressed four expectations, notably mentioning how 9

Christianity in China should always adhere to Sinicization. From Oct. 20-21, a sub-conference of The Dialogue on Preaching Chinese Christianity’s Theological Construction took place in Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu province. CCC and TSPM in the local governments 1. Jan. 17—In order to implement CCC and TSPM’s Work Plan for 2016, Jiangxi province’s CCC and TSPM organized 19 pastors below 60 years of age to preach on the Sinicization of Christianity at 19 churches in 11 cities on Jan. 17. 2. March 28—Pastor Wang Conglian, the chairman of the Guangxi provincial CCC, stated that “In 2016, we will further advance the practice of theological constructions and Sinicization of Christianity in China,” during his report on the work of Guangxi’s CCC and TSPM in 2015. The statement, delivered at the 5th session of the TSPM’s 11th and the CCC’s 5th meeting of the Standing Committee, indicated plans to further suppress Christianity by rewiring it to fit the Communist Party’s agenda. 3. April 18-19—Yunnan province’s CCC reinforced their dedication to aligning Christianity with the government via Sinicization and the reconstruction of Christian theology at the 4th session of their 7th meeting, emphasizing it as the focus of their work. 4. June 30—At a seminar hosted by the CCC and TSPM of Linfen, Shanxi, officials expressed their wish for seminary graduates to practice the Sinicization of Christianity in their pastoral ministry. 5. July 5—Guizhou’s CCC and TSPM hosted a “Seminar on Studying the Purport of the National Conference on Religion & Sinicization of Christianity” at Guizhou Bible College. 6. July 20—The local CCC and TSPM in Dalian, Yunnan, held a ceremony to celebrate the start of reconstructing Christian theology and “propagandizing the Sinicization of Christianity.” Before the event, Dalian’s CCC and TSPM leadership team decided to form a propagandizing/preaching team headed by Pastor Zhang Yuezhu which preaches about the Sinicization of Christianity at Christian churches in across the region. 7. Aug. 5-November—Liaoning province’s CCC and TSPM hosted its 4th propagandizing/preaching campaign on Christianity’s theological construction and Christianity’s sinicization. 8. Aug. 5-6—Anhui province’s CCC and TSPM hosted a seminar on the “Theoretical and Practical Explorations of the Sinicization of Christianity.” 9. Aug. 12—In collaboration with the Guangzhou Historical and Cultural Center, Guangzhou’s CCC and TSPM co-hosted a seminar on “Christianity’s Sinicization.” 10. Aug. 16-19—Nestling its seminar in the Huangshan mountain range, a popular tourist attraction, the CCC and TSPM from Suzhou, Anhui, highlighted the Sinicization of 10

Christianity. 11. Aug. 17-20—Sichuan province’s CCC and TSPM held a seminar that discussed deepening the extent of Christianity’s theological construction and Sinicization for all the Christian clergy in Sichuan province. 12. Sept. 21—Jilin province’s CCC and TSPM hosted “A Commemoration of China Christian TSPM’s 62th Anniversary and Seminar on Christianity’s Sinicization” at Jilin Bible College, proposing to mobilize the whole province to pursue the sinicization of Christianity. 13. Sept. 23—CCC and TSPM in Liaoning province’s Anshan city hosted a “Seminar on Theological Construction and Christianity’s Sinicization” in Gaolifang Church in Tai’an County. 14. Sept. 27—Shaanxi province’s CCC and TSPM held a ceremony heralding the TSPM’s 60th year in the province and a seminar on the Sinicization of Christianity. 15. Sept. 29—Wuhan’s CCC and TSPM held the “Theological Construction and Christianity’s Sinicization” speech contest. vii. Local governments release policies and detailed regulations targeting house churches, attempting to reform and control house churches Before and after the promulgation of the Regulations on Religious Affairs, some practices, typically carried out under the guise of government laws, surfaced. Using different methods to suppress religions, these practices flourished throughout the nation as local governments released detailed regulations targeting house churches in an attempt to reform and control them.

Classify and differentiate in treatment: attempting to divide and disintegrate house churches In a document entitled “Work Plan Dedicated to Managing the Establishment of Private Christian Meeting Places in the Development Zone According to the Law,” the government in Yu’an District, Lu’an, Anhui, vowed to manage house churches by: 1. Registering churches, 2. Merging house churches with government churches, 3.Transitioning house churches into government churches, and 4. Banning all churches that refuse to cooperate with these tactics. To punish any pastor who refuses to cooperate or accept bribes, officials threatened arrest or formal prohibition from preaching. Authorities in Hengshan, a town within Lu’an, investigated and collected information on private Christian gathering places and the activities of the core members. Those willing to accept the leadership of government-run religious groups were requested to fill out the paperwork for approval and registration. The Tongshan District of Xuzhou, Jiangsu initiated the “Four Combinations” movement to aid with the management of private Christian meeting places. The four strategies outlined by the 11

movement are: 1. Combine routine management and concentrated management, which involves collective action by the District Committee’s 610 Office, the Domestic Security Protection Bureau, police and various other agencies to screen non-governmental churches in order to combine, outlaw, or otherwise manage them; 2. Combine education/guidance with cracking down on the illegal churches, stop all illegal religious activities, and outlaw them as soon as they are identified; 3. Combine channeling and blocking; 4. Combine comprehensive management with a long-term, sustainable method. On July 15, Henan’s provincial government released a notice, entitled, “Luoyang’s Administration of Ethnic Affairs’ (Religious Affairs Bureau) Adopted Measures to Actively Settle the Religious Domain’s Important and Difficult Problems.” It disclosed that 50 house churches were forced to join the TSPM system, 15 were shut down, and the construction of six religious structures were suspended. The United Front Work Department in Nanzhao County, Henan, proposed the establishment of four sustainable mechanisms for managing privately set-up Christian gatherings: 1. Reinforce the inner workings of the network and establish supervisors, making the town’s Secretary of the CCP Committee and the head of the village’s Party Committee the primary persons responsible for ethnic and religious work; 2. Reinforce the building of teams of informants, establish a monitoring mechanism, install informants in areas heavily populated by private gatherings who will report immediately after identifying such locations so as to “nip them in the bud and never relent on them;” 3. Reinforce the construction of patriotic religious groups. In China, this means supporting the founding of groups that demonstrate loyalty to the Party; 4. Incorporate management of religions into the comprehensive management of social security and subject it to strict inspection. On Aug. 31, officials in Bo’Ai County, Henan, met about the management of Catholic and Protestant house churches and published a work plan targeting them. Eradicating all religious symbols— including desks, chairs, crosses, and offering boxes—cutting off electricity and electrical wires, dismissing personnel, etc., samples the extent of their brutal efforts. The implementation includes four stages spanning from Sept. 4-Oct. 15: 1. Investigate churches, 2. Deliver a notice about the expected changes to the churches, 2. Concentrate management and correction of the church, and 3. Inspect and review the church for approval. In Hinggan league, a prefecture-equivalent area of Inner Mongolia, religious affairs agencies and the CCC and TSPM devised the Management Approach for Visitations of Christian Gathering Places, assigning visitation teams to sub-regions and districts throughout the locality to coordinate the management of privately set-up Christian gathering places. The teams’ responsibilities included thoroughly collecting information on the churches via research and investigation. They adopted the management principle of “combining channeling and blocking [of churches], differentiating [churches] in treatment, guiding them to bring them in line with the Party ideology, and putting meeting places under the leadership of churches.” Christian gathering places that are willing to comply with the leadership of the TSPM yet fail to meet the criteria of legal registration and can’t be registered or merged, will be incorporated into the management scope of “putting meeting places under the leadership of churches.” Such gathering places are not allowed to have offering boxes, baptize believers, or appoint ministers on their own. Activities in these gathering places will focus on Bible study, prayer, and worshiping. Preachers will be arranged by the church or larger gathering places. In general, 12

believers in these places won’t gather on Sundays for worship services. “Putting gathering places under the leadership of churches” is to put these gathering places under the direct management and supervision of churches and larger gathering places. Under the guidance of churches and larger gathering places, the gathering places being led will establish a democratic management team, create a roster of church members and a calendar of religious activities, and strictly control the attendees, size, and time of their gatherings. According to the Registration Form for Privately Set-up Christian Gathering Places in Rui’an released by Rui’an Municipal Religious Affairs Bureau, the government has installed an informant in every house church. The bureau has four manners of dealing with house churches: 1. Outlaw them, according to the law, 2. Actively guide them to meet at legal gathering places, 3. Put them on file for management by township and village community committees, 4. Register them, according to the law. Close surveillance through a grid system According to the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee of Zhejiang Province’s website, the Lucheng district of Wenzhou built a grid system to regulate religious affairs. The system, which will consist of 111 large grids, will be monitored by more than 1,500 liaison officers from the religious affairs bureau. Each village and household will be surveilled. Collect information on and register house churches Headed by Gu Chuanyong, a patrol member of the Jiangsu Provincial Religious Affairs Bureau, a joint investigation and research team comprised of personnel from Zhejiang’s United Work Front Department and the Zhejiang Provincial Public Secuirty Bureau went to Nanjing’s Gulou District on Sept. 18 to assess the management of illegal Christian activities. The team visited a church on Gaonning Street, Gulou District, and Gaoqiao Church in Qinhuai District to learn in detail about how these gathering sites take in believers who used to attend services at house churches. The team also discussed and communicated with the district’s religious affairs bureau and church leaders regarding “putting gathering places under the leadership of churches” and resisting cults, heretical teachings, and infiltration. The Xuzhou Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau’s website announced that, from Sept. 18 to 22, Feng County’s religious affairs bureau deployed two task force groups to conduct a census on more than 50 house churches in 15 townships in its region, filling out survey forms with information about these gathering places. They were able to identify all of the churches in every village as well as people meeting at each place and have an information form filled out to differentiate each of them. Items on the information form include the date of the church’s founding, reasons for establishing the church, the contact information of leaders, the safety of the building, the number of people meeting there, whether or not it accepts the TSPM’s principles, whether or not it maintains contact with overseas Christian organizations or individuals, etc. Following the requirements of the Work Plan for Privately Established Christian Meeting Places, the United Front Work Department on located on Wuxi’s Yuqi Street conducted investigated house churches under their jurisdiction on Oct. 26, collecting details on their time of establishment, reasons for establishment, leaders’ information, number of people meeting 13

there, whether or not it has a financial management system, denominational background, whether or not it sustains frequent contact with overseas Christian organizations or individuals, etc. The Rui’an Municipal Religious Affairs Bureau, located in Wenzhou, released the Registration Form for Privately Established Christian Gathering Places in September, asking churches to provide them with the name of their congregation, its address, denomination affiliation, history, number of Christians meeting there, number of prospective Christians in attendance, its core members, leaders, contact information, whether or not it has connections to overseas entities, its intent to either comply with or resist government management, its decision on whether or not it will join the CCC and TSPM system, etc. In addition, the form addressed the status of government management within the church including information on the management team’s personnel, its contact person within its region as well as its informant, the church’s opinion regarding government management, and so on. The new “Five Entries and Five Transformations” policy In order to implement Sinicization, the Party launched the “Five Entries and Five Transformations” policy launched nationwide in 2015, mandating that certain policies and statutes enter the church, such as health care activities, popular science and culture, assisting and helping the poor, and harmonious construction. Major manifestations include: distribute Party-run newspapers and magazines to Christian churches or force them to subscribe, sing revolutionary songs during worship service, allow grassroots Party leaders use church podiums to preach on the government’s policies on Sundays. Since June 2016, governments across Zhejiang demanded religious sites hang the national flag. The official website of Zhejiang’s Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee claimed it is “a way to reinforce the education of patriotism in religious groups and individual.” On June 9, some churches in Pingyang County, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, were required to display the national flag and even the CCP flag on top of church buildings or on church podiums. Party offices were established in some churches, and government personnel monitored the congregations. According to a news report released on the National Religious Affairs Bureau’s website on July 13, Taizhou, Zhejiang launched the new “five entries” policy for religious sites. As a result, socialist core values, the Chinese national flag, state-run newspapers and magazines, rooms in which to read the farmers’ book, and policies and laws were all to be added to religious sites. When compared to the previous set of “five entries,” the first three aspects of these new “entries” blatantly reveal the agenda of using atheism and socialist ideology to reform religion, dominate religion with Party ideology, and eventually eradicate religion. To implement the “Five Entries and Five Transformations,” Wenzhou’s Lucheng District either donated or forced churches to subscribe to 343 copies of Party newspapers and magazines in 2016 and hosted 32 themed events propagandizing religious policies and regulations that “concentrically built the Chinese dream,” which were attended by 4,314 people. Some places like Shanfu, a town in Lucheng District, even set up 10 “fortress villages” where religion was 14

strictly managed to reinforce the CCP’s domination over religious activity. Christians in Wenzhou unveiled information proving that government personnel had been installed within churches as contact people within Yueqing, where the CCP Committee Secretary Ye Zhiyan served as the communication chief while members of the United Front Work Department, the village chief, and the director of the Village Affairs Office served as contacts. This demonstrates that in Wenzhou, the implementation of the “Five Entries and Five Transformations” is required of house churches in addition to Three-Self Churches. Congregation sing songs praising CCP, secretary of CCP Committee preaches in church According to Xunnan Dehong’s news website, singing songs that praise the Party has become a distinctive feature of the local churches. There are also churches that invited CCP Committee secretaries to speak about the Party’s policies on Sundays. Such activities are proudly described as “let the songs and voices of the Party ring out in churches.” The state-run media indicated that some classic songs such as “The CCP is My Dear Mother”, “Great China”, the Chinese national anthem, “Sing about My Motherland,” and “My Chinese Heart” had been often sung in churches, and congregations sang them during evangelistic activities. Every Sunday, Nanniba Church in Dehong uses its worship time to sing songs expressing love for the Party, the country, and the homeland, which have been translated into the languages of local ethnic minority groups, and this is becoming more and more common in churches of all sizes within Mangzhang. The CCP Committee Secretary Yang Zengxin attends church services on Sundays and take the podium to preach on the Party’s and country’s religious policies. Controling church finances On June 9, some churches in Zhejiang Wenzhou’s Pingyang County were requested by the authorities to turn in church income including believers’ offerings for the township government to manage collectively. Purchase of equipment and remodeling of churches must also be approved by government agents. Supressing house churches may become grassroots police officers’ daily task On Nov. 7, a government operated social media account celebrated Jin Zhibo, a policeman from Shenyang, Liaoning, because, “Over many years, Jin Zhibo has won the award of ‘Shenyang City’s Distinguished Individual in Managing Privately Set-up Christian Gathering Places According to the Law’, ‘Shenyang City’s Distinguished Individual in Handling Illegal Religious Activities and Resisting Religious Infiltration from Abroad,’ and other titles of honor. Sixteen times, he has been awarded for third-class merits According to news on China’s Weibo, which is a popular social media service, dated Nov. 7, celebrated Jin Zhibo, a policeman from Shenyang, was given credit and rewarded for suppressing house churches and resisting so-called religious infiltration. The news stated “Over many years, Jin Zhibo has won the ‘Shenyang Municipality’s Distinguished Individual in Managing Privately Set-up Christian Gathering Places According to the Law’, and the ‘Shenyang Municipality’s Distinguished Individual in Handling Illegal Religious Activities and Resisting Religious Infiltration from Abroad’ awards and other titles of honor. Sixteen times, 15

he has been awarded for third-class merits.” This news report revealed that suppressing house churches has become the grassroots police officers’ daily routine task across the nation and that trampling on freedom of religion has become a rung on the ladder to awards and promotions for them. II.

Overview of Government Persecution of Churches and Christians in Mainland China in 2016 i. Suppress churches on multiple fronts and disrupt churches’ daily functioning

On Jan. 6, Yulin Furen Christian Church in Fuqing, Fujian, which was built two years ago, was forcibly demolished for “failure to register with the local government.” The church was located in a remote place and attended by about 50 believers. On the morning of April 13, Yutou Christian Church on in Rui’an was leveled to the ground by government officials. The church was a 3-story building of more than 2,000 square meters which cost 3 million Yuan (equivalent to $430,000 USD) of believers’ offerings to build. Church leaders and their families were threatened and feared for their lives. On the evening of May 20, a demolition crew of about 100 people, including police officers, forcibly demolished Zhuyang Christian Church in Longwan District. Although the church did not violate any laws, authorities still demolished it because they wished to “transform the villages in the city,” which provoked strong protests from church members. Two days later, church members held a Sunday worship service within the ruins, holding protest banners which read “We are strongly opposed to this brutal, violent forced demolition,” etc. The church routinely hosted 500 people on Sundays, and, at its most populous, held religious ceremonies with 1,000 people in attendance. After the demolition, these people have nowhere to go for worship services. Fuxing Christian Church in Hebei faced demolition due to persecution from the local government and land developers. The local government offered an extremely low price for “temporary buildings” (1,000 Yuan per square meter for single-story buildings and 1,400 Yuan per square meter for multiple-story buildings) and forced the church to sign a land transfer contract. Since the current price of local housing is about 10,000 Yuan per square meter, all members of the church opposed the land transfer deal, and the church refused to sign the contract with the developers. On Dec. 29, the developers hired gang members to beat church members, destroy the church’s circuit breaker, and smash glass in the church building. More than 100 believers petitioned the city’s government, demanding the arrest of the gangsters and a reasonable resolution of the land dispute. The church’s leaders said that the incident angered Christians all over the city, and nearly 10,000 Christians planned to petition the provincial government or even go to the central government in Beijing if necessary. Cross demolition continues in Zhejiang Some Christians reported that the authorities in Zhejiang planned on demolishing all church crosses in the province, keeping only a few in several landmark regions. Angered by these 16

outbursts of blatant discrimination, many churchgoers resisted. What follows is an inconclusive sampling of some of those demolitions and the consequences Chinese Christians face for defending their faith: 1. Jan. 7—The crosses atop Nanhu Church in Wenzhou and Dongzhuang Church in Wutian were forcibly demolished. Christians who resisted the demolition were taken into police custody. 2. Jan. 11—The cross of Luohu Church in Wenzhou was demolished again, following a previous demolition. 3. Jan 18—Officials demolished the cross of Church on Jan. 18. 4. Jan. 25—The cross of Xiuyang Church in Pingyang County, Wenzhou, was secretly demolished. 5. 11 p.m. on Jan. 26 to 4 a.m. the next day—Nearly 100 government employees broke into Waipu Church in Aojiang township, forcing their way to the church tower, and removed the church cross using electric drills and various other tools. They also damaged the bell tower and the door to the clergy’s room. Authorities also confiscated Waipu Church’s surveillance and video equipment before they left. Videos taken of the demolition showed that a crane dropped a red cross to the ground while many Christians stood before shield-wielding security guards and sang worship songs. Of the protesters, some moved forward to stop the demolition.The demolition crew refused to give any reason for destroying the cross. 6. Jan. 27—Government employees forcibly destroyed the cross topping Chipulu Church in Wenzhou and the cross of Qingkeng Church in Wanquan parish. 7. Feb. 23—Triggered by Christian resistance to a demolition attempt made on Zhongchang Church’s cross, authorities in Wenzhou’s Longwan District dispatched more than 100 personnel to break the church’s electric and water utility meter. 8. Feb. 24—More than 10 government employees from Rui’an, Zhejiang demolished Tangxia Church’s cross. 9. Feb. 25—At 5 a.m., the cross of Zhuangyuan Catholic Church in Wenzhou’s Yongqiang parish was forcibly demolished. 10. Feb. 25—The government severed Bajia Church’s water and electricity supply after its members opposed a cross demolition. 11. Feb. 26—Officials in Pingyang County destroyed Guozhuang Church’s cross. 12. April—Authorities in Pingyang County pledge that all crosses topping churches in the area will be eradicated by the end of the month. 13. March 1—Demolition crews arrived early in the morning to dismantle the crosses of Luxi Church, sitauated in Dongtou County, Wenzhou, and the Adventist Church in 17

Cangnan County. Due to the fierce resistance from the attendees of Luxi Church, the church’s cross was spared. 14. March 2—The cross of Xixi Church in Yongjia County was demolished. 15. March 3—Government personnel destroyed the crosses of Luojia Church and Meiyuan Church in Yongjia County. 16. March—According to reports from Christians in Zhejiang, by March 3, up to 49 churches in Zhejiang province had their crosses forcibly demolished, including Xixi Church, Luoxi Church and Meiyuan Church in Yongjia County, Lingjiao Christian Church in Cangnan County, and Nanyangshan Christian Church, all of which lost their crosses on March 2 and 3. 17. March 4—Nearly 100 people forcibly demolished the cross of Hai’an Christian Church in Rui’an. 18. March 10—The crosses atop Dajing Christian Church in Yueqing and Bailuyu Christian Church in Baixiang were forcibly demolished. 19. March 11—Dongyu Christian Church in Pingyang County, Wenzhou, and Baiqiangdi Christian Church inYueqing, had their crosses forcibly demolished. 20. March 14-17—Christians in Wenzhou reported cross demolitions that had happened to a Yankou Church location, Qingshan Church in Aojiang, Pukou Church in Xiaojiang, Qingjie Church, Lijiakeng Church in Yongjia County, the First and Second Aojiang Church in Pingyang County, Dachang Church in Mabu,, Changqiao Church in Rui’an, etc. On March 16, a government-hired demolition crew beat up and injured seven Christians from Qingjie Church in Pingyang County. 21. March 18—Seven churches’ crosses were forcibly demolished on this day, including Fengling Christian Church in Pingyang County, Ximei Church in Aojiang, Yu’ao Christian Church inWenzhou, Linshan Church in Lucheng District, Daheng Street Church in Yongjia County’s Oubei parish, Changcun Christian Church in Jiayin, and a branch of Cangnan Adventist Church. In the morning of March 18, the authorities beat and injured seven Christians when forcibly demolishing the cross of Ximei Church in Pingyang County. 22. March 19—The crosses of Nanfeng’s Pingyang Christian Church and Nanmen Christian Church were forcibly demolished. 23. March 21—More than 50 state agents demolished the cross of Xinhua Christian Church in Rui’an. 24. March 22—Two church crosses were demolished in Cangnan County, Wenzhou, on March 22: the cross of Xiaying Church in Cangnan County, Wenzhou—which was taken down by more than 30 officials—and the cross atop Guidun Christ’s Second Coming Adventist Church, which was dismantled by around 20 people. 18

25. March 23—The cross atop Qianzhuang Christian Church in Yongjia County was forcibly demolished by about 10 people. 26. March 24—The cross of Shangdian Church in Pingyang county’s Shuitou town was forcibly demolished by over 40 people. 27. March 25—A Christian woman dropped to the ground, injured, while resisting a demolition crew of more than 100 government officials from Wenzhou that were dispatched to demolish Shangen Church’s cross. She was part of a group of churchgoers who had arrived to protest. 28. March 14-April 30—Evidenced by a document internally circulated within the government of Pingyang County’s Tengqiao, the local authorities launched four demolition operations between March 14 and April 30, targeting 17 crosses, including those atop Linshan Christian Church, Shangen Christian Church, Chaoji Christian Church, Yingshang Christian Church, and Dongcun Christian Church. The commanderin-chief of the campaign is Pan Yifan and the person-in-charge at the demolition sites is Xiao Datong. This demolition plan also requires the establishment of eight sub-groups responsible for public order maintenance, public security inspection, traffic directing, etc. 29. Dec. 23—The cross atop Shuangcun Church in Zhejiang’s Wenzhou was demolished.

Attempted appropriation of church property with brutal force and blood-chilling violence A Christian woman perished when government-backed gangsters buried her and her husband alive for trying to protect their church, which is located in Zhumadian, Henan, from being bulldozed as the result of a land dispute. When Li Jiangong, the person in charge of Beitou Church, and his wife, Ding Cuimei, stationed themselves in front of a bulldozer, one member of the demolition team said to the other, “Bury them alive for me; their blood will be on my hands.” Subsequently, the bulldozer shoved Li and Ding into a pit and covered their bodies with soil. Li was able to dig his way free, but Ding suffocated before she could be rescued. Two of the demolition crew were criminally detained by the local police; however, no one in charge of the demolition crew has been held responsible. Li Jiangong and his family set up a makeshift funeral hall at the demolition scene and put Ding’s body in a rented coffin. After being exposed by China Aid, the story garnered massive international media attention. The enormous pressure prompted the town’s government to resolve the dispute by ruling in favor of the church on April 25, stating that the property is owned by the church, and no other individuals or organization shall take it by force. Church meeting places busted, pastors and Christians taken into police custody Around the time when officials began carrying out the Regulations on Religious Affairs,, house churches in many places nationwide were reportedly coerced to either join the TSPM or suppressed and disbanded, illustrating that officials intend to wipe out house churches with the new regulations. As exemplified below, the suppression intensified in Heilongjiang, Xinjiang 19

Uyghur Autonomous Region, Beijing, Henan, Anhui, Zhejiang, Guangdong, and Guizhou. On the morning of Aug. 22, officers from the religious affairs and public security bureaus raided Living Water and Blessed Lamb Church in Hegang, Helongjiang, and demanded that the gathered church members to disperse in five minutes. Those in attendance started to sing worship songs to protest. One of the church members, Xu Xiangmei, was accused of “preventing police officers from carrying out public services” and detained for 10 days. Officers forcibly pushed Xu to the patrol car, slapped her, grabbed her by the neck, and otherwise acted violently towards her. In the afternoon of the same day, a SWAT team broke into the church again. Emergency services were required after an agent from the civil affairs bureau pushed a Christian woman to the ground. Christians in Xinjiang could be taken into police custody whenever they failed to tread carefully. In 2016, the main cause for detention was attending house church meetings or sharing the Gospel, which earned the supposed offender 10-15 days behind bars. A small number of Christians faced criminal detention on suspicion of “gathering a crowd to disturb public order.” In order to avoid legal trouble, house churches advise that services restrict their attendance to 20 people. On March 5, Christian pastors Wang Lulu and Yang Zhaocun from Gansu and Chen Yajie, a Christian from Changji, went from Urumqi to the home of Zheng Lan in a rural area of Yongsheng. At this location, about 40 Christians conducted a house church meeting. Subsequently, more than 200 armed police rushed into the meeting and, after registering the identities of all those in attendance, seized people, including Wang, Yang, Chen, Zheng, and another person namedTian Ye, declaring the meeting an “illegal gathering.” On March 6, officials charged the group with “gathering a crowd to disturb public order” and criminally detained them. Five days later, another woman named Liu Yan was taken into custody in connection with this case and given the same charge. On April 11, the procuratorate formally arrested all six defendants. In July, authorities blacklisted Pastor Lou Yuanqi, who lives in Huocheng, Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, and his entire family. They were prevented from buying train tickets even after displaying their ID cards, and a police checkpoint refused to grant them entrance. Afterward, Lou was confined to his home. In Cele, Hetian, one of Xinjiang’s southernmost cities, local public security agents raided several churches throughout a single county on July 7 and took many Christians to the police station for interrogation about their church’s religious affairs. They were released at 8 a.m. the next day, but received a summons for further questioning hours later and were held at the police station until late that evening. On July 10, the Cele County police station sent officers to the home of Pastor Zhong Shuguang and took his wife, Lü Yingli, into custody. In late September, a Christian couple attending one of the churches led by Pastor Zhong were taken into police custody for hanging a cross in their home, as was another Christian woman visiting them at the time of their apprehension. The man has been released, but his wife and the other woman are still in detention. 20

On Sept. 1, personnel from the local public security and religious affairs bureaus in Huocheng raided a house church, where they took a woman to the police station for interrogation. Later, she was criminally on suspicion of “gathering a crowd to disturb public order” and then arrested by the Procuratorate. One day in September, Ma Huichao, a Christian in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, and three other Christians were gathering for a Bible study. Despite the meeting’s lack of preaching or a formal service, both of which provoke official action,police suddenly broke into Ma’s home, accused the Christians of conducting religious activities without government approval, and took them into police custody. Ma was charged with “gathering a crowd to disturb public order,” and the other three were released after serving administrative detention sentences. Her trial of the first instance commenced in mid-November, and the prosecution paper claimed that she conducted religious activities without government approval. Her defense attorney was barred from pleading innocent on her behalf. On Dec. 30, a local court sentenced her to three years in prison, beginning on Jan. 1, 2017. Ma decided not to appeal the ruling. In September alone, at least 26 Christians in Xinjiang’s Aksu and Korla regions faced arrest for preaching the Gospel and attending house church meetings. Among them, three Christians from a house church in Aksu’s Wensu County were seized by police for attending house church meetings; two believers from a house church in Xinhe County were taken into police custody; and two men and one woman from a house church in Baicheng County were seized by police. In Korla, a church pastored by Wu Zhenyu was raided by over 10 police officers, and 13 church members were taken into custody for attending services and Bible studies. In Yanqi County, two members of a house church were seized for evangelism. Two believers from a house church pastored by Ge Xinyi were taken into police custody for evangelism. A female believer from a house church in Bohu County for illegally spreading religion. On Nov.10 and 11, police dispersed a group of Han and Uyghur Christians who had gathered for biblical training at Xinfeng Church in Urumqi’s Midong district. The event’s participants, Li Rong, Liu Peijin, Wang Yubiao, Wang Encheng, Wang Hailong, David, and Gu Li were taken into police custody. Li, who organized the event, and two others were handed 15-day administrative detention sentences for “gathering a crowd to disturb public social order” and “spreading religion illegally.” Shengai Fellowship Family Church in Beijing organized a gathering in the home of Xu Yonghai, an elder in the church, on Oct. 7. However, the police raided and terminated the meeting. Only three out of more than 10 scheduled attendees arrived. Xu said the predicted attendance of foreign reporters prompted the raid. Consequentially, more than 30 police officers guarded the building and demanded that the gathering be cancelled. On the morning of Oct. 7, police prevented two dissidents, He Depu and Ye Guoqiang, who had planned on attending the meeting, were prohibited from leaving their homes. 21

In mid-July, a newly founded house church in Shangqiu, Henan, was sealed off by the Tuocheng County Religious Affairs Bureau for refusing to join the TSPM system. On Aug. 24, Immanuel House Church in Zhengzhou, Henan, received a notice from the religious affairs bureau threatening to outlaw the church on grounds that it had not registered with the government and was therefore illegal. The notice demands the church evacuate the church building within a month or face forced dispersion. Government officials also told members of the church not to accept interviews from foreign media. In August, a house church in Bo’ao County, received a notice from the local religious affairs bureau demanding the church stop all religious activities and remove any objects related to religion. Additionally, it ordered church members to attend government-sanctioned churches and stated that failure to comply will lead to the church being forced to shut down. In a scene a witness described as “hard to watch,” police officers in Henan province’s Nanle County brutally beat a Christian on Sept. 25, grabbing his hair and twisting his arms. Christians reported that Nanle County’s public security bureau detained more than 20 Christians for religious reasons. On May 11, about 10 members of Banzhuang Church in Fuyang, Anhui province, were gathered together to study the Bible when agents from the religious affairs bureau and township government broke into the church, damaged the door, destroyed the church’s offering box, and cut electrical cords. Chen Xiaofu, leader of the church, hired a lawyer to sue the bureaus and the government, but the court refused to handle the lawsuit. In early August, a house church in Ma’anshan, Anhui, was raided by the district religious affairs bureau and public security bureau, which confiscated the church’s tables and chairs because “too many people attended the church” and then outlawed the church because it was “illegal.” For more than a year, the ethnic and religious affairs bureau, the public security bureau, and the education bureau cut off the electricity and water supply to the home of Wang Minghong, a Christian in Lanxi, Jinhua, saying that he used it to hold “illegal” and “unregistered religious meetings.” In August, Wang asked Lanxi’s petition office to resume the electricity and water, only to be told that “continuing to use the house as a meeting place will cause further rectification and punishment, while using it for regular residential purpose will lead to the proper handling of the problem regarding electricity and water supply.” On July 5, a Christian gathering place on the 9th floor of a building in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, received a “Notice of Terminating and Rectifying Illegal Meeting Places” from the newlyfounded religious affairs office within the local street management office, which said the church would be sealed off in a week. Government officials closed a house church in China’s coastal Zhejiang province on the eve of Oct. 1, China’s National Day. On Sept. 29, Shaoxing Municipal Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau and Doumen Town People’s Government sent a notice to the church, writing, “You conducted religious activities at an unregistered location, violating Article 43 of the State Council’s Regulations on Religious Affairs, Articles 23, 45, and 46 of the Zhejiang Province 22

Regulation Religious Affairs, and the related stipulations. You are ordered to immediately cease activities.” On Sep. 2, a Christian house church location where about 40 believers meet in Jiuzhaigou County, Sichuan province, suddenly received a document entitled “Notice of Order to Reform” from the Jiuzhaigou County Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau. The notice declared that the church violated the second clause of Article 53 of the Sichuan Province Regulation on Religious Affairs by gathering for religious activities (singing hymns, praying, and chanting) since 2010. Consequentially, the bureau orders the church to carry out the following corrections within 15 days of receiving this notice: 1. Stop admitting Christians into the 40th building of Jiuzhaigou Garden to perform religious activities, such as singing hymns, praying, and chanting; 2. Stop allowing non-cleric personnel into Jiuzhaigou Garden to conduct Christian activities; 3. Stop admitting clerics who come from abroad into Jiuzhaigou Garden to preach and conduct Christian activities. Eight members of Daguan House Church in Qianxi County, which has nearly 100 members, were taken into police custody in late May 2015, for “conducting illegal religious activities.” Eventually, three of them were released on bail after having been criminally detained for months. On Sept.1, 2015, the Qianxi County Procuratorate formalized the arrests of the five other, whose names are Dai Xiaoqiang, Xu Guoqing, Kang Chengju, Tang Huanggui, and Huang Huaxin. Of the group, Xu faced the most severe charges for providing the church with a meeting place. For months, the government did not permit the defendants to hire lawyers. In Nov. 2015, the public security bureau sent the cases to the procuratorate, and the authorities ruled that the evidence was insufficient and ordered that the bureau investigate the situation further. In early 2016, the case was re-sent to the procuratorate for review and prosecution. The church no longer holds services, and church attendees are afraid to have contact with reporters. Multiple persecution cases erupted in Guangdong, characterized by stalking and secretly investigating Christians who refused to join the TSPM and finding excuses to detain them. Many church leaders in Guangzhou and Shenzhen were summoned by public security agents for a talk and requested to have their churches join the TSPM system, and failure to comply with the request would lead to the interruption of church services. In May 2015, Guangfu Church was sealed off by the Baiyun District Religious Affairs Bureau and the Street Management Office for allegedly “conducting illegal religious activities,” and church property was confiscated. Persecution against Guangfu Church continued in 2016. Before the 2016 Lunar New Year, officials from the public security bureau ordered the church to stop meeting for three months. When the church resumed meeting in February, it was ordered to stop the next month. The landlord leasing the location to the church was also pressured by public security bureau agents to revoke the lease several times. Three times, public security bureau personnel searched the frequently persecuted Taihe Hall, a branch of Guangfu Church, in the first half of 2016. In the first two incidences, the authorities pressured the landlord, and, during the third occurrence, they asked the landlord to terminate the lease because the facility did not meet the standards of the fire department. On June 14, public security agents visited the church and ordered it to stop holding services. Government employees and police called the landlord, insisting that he terminate the lease. Eight days later, the government placed a seal over the doors to Taihe Hall and cut off power and water to the 23

building. The official reason for the closure was that the landlord of the building did not have the proper certificates, but, in previous actions against the church, the authorities cited “illegal gathering” as reason for persecution and threatened to take action if the church continued meeting without showing any legal papers.. Two years ago, the landlord and the church signed a 10-year contract, and the church members spent approximately 500,000 Yuan ($75,000 USD) refurbishing the location. After harassment on six consecutive Sundays, which included taking pictures and videos of church services, the local religious affairs and public security bureaus dispatched more than 30 officers to Zhongfu Wanmin Church in Dongguan, Guangdong on May 29, interrupting the church’s Sunday service. They accused the church members of illegally gathering and pressured them to join the TSPM. Additionally, officials pried open the church’s offering boxes,, confiscated 2,888 Yuan (U.S. $439), and intimidated some of the women until they cried. Church leader Li Peng said they would not join the TSPM. Because the church still must pay off a bank loan they used to purchase the building, they felt helpless and frustrated when the officers confiscated the offerings. On June 3 and 5, the public security agents returned to the church to harass it. They threatened the Christians in order to persuade them to join the TSPM, but the church members ignored them. On May 22, Pastor Zhang of Zhongfu Canaan Church in Dongguan, Guangdong, was summoned by authorities, including the Residents Committee, the Village Chief, and the local police, for a talk which lasted several hours. The officials, who inquired about the church’s funding and its members, asked it stop hosting "illegal gatherings" and become part of the TSPM. Pastor Zhang made it clear to the authorities that the church would not join the TSPM. Although the lease was valid for another six years, the church’s landlord caved to pressure from the public security bureau, firefighting department, and various industry and commerce departments’ threats and asked the church to relocate immediately. In the days leading up to Christmas Eve, he begged the church to move, forcing them to ask for permission to stay at their current location until the 2017 Lunar New Year. On June 19, a Sunday service at Vineyard Church in Foshan, Guangdong, was raided by the local religious affairs and public security bureaus, which accused the church of not being registered with the government and accused it of illegally gathering. The power and water supply to the church building was cut off, and some of the church’s property was confiscated. On July 10, officials from the religious affairs bureau and helmet-wearing police officers interrupted Olive Tree Church’s worship service in Foshan, Guangdong, which was attended by 30 Christians, and photographed the scene. Later they took the adults in the congregation to the police station for questioning. They also summoned Jiang Jianping, a church leader, and charged him with “conducting activities in the name of a social organization without registration.” When Jiang Jianping’s mother was brought to the police station, she collapsed and was rushed to a hospital. The police sealed the church building and put church property in a vehicle and took it away. Four staff members of the church were administratively detained for 10 days. For several months, Renyi Church, a house church in Jiangmen, Guangdong, suffered constant dispersal and raids. The church members were hesitant to accept interviews by reporters for fear 24

of retribution. On the morning of Aug. 8, the public security bureau ordered the church to evacuate the church building. As a result, more than100 people have nowhere to go for church activities. On the morning of Sept. 27, personnel from the public security and religious affairs bureaus raided a worship service attended by tens of Christians in Zhuhai, Guangdong, forced the attendees to register their IDs, and summoned eight church members to the police station for questioning. They were released in the early morning of Sept. 28, after they had been held for more than 10 hours. During that time, the police threatened to further harm the church if the Christians told any news sources about the raid or being interrogated. Christians arrested for no reason or fabricated charges Yang Jianwei, a priest from Anzhuang Catholic Church in Baoding, lost contact with his family and friends at 12:00 p.m. on April 15, shortly after he entered an examination room to take a driving test. His relatives repeatedly called him, but his cell phone had been turned off. Members of his church and his driving instructor, who accompanied him to the test, searched the facility but could not find him. When the instructor asked to view surveillance footage, the staff refused to produce it. Anzhuang Catholic Church has a history of more than 100 years. On May 22, 2015, the government demolished part of a venue used for prayer meetings. During the demolition, two church members were detained, and one woman suffered injuries. On April 25, Wen Xiaowu, a pastor of a house church in Rui’an, Zhejiang, was criminally detained along with his wife, Xiang Lihua, and their son, on the charges of “gathering a crowd to disturb public order” and “obstructing public service.” Before his detention, Wen contacted U.S. Consulate officials many times, and his case was closely monitored by the U.S. government. On Sept. 8, as a result of pressure and advocacy by China Aid both domestically and internationally,, Wen was released and placed under “residential surveillance.” Pastor Gu “Joseph” Yuese, was charged with embezzlement, removed from his position, and restricted in his physical freedom and speech. On Jan. 18, the Hangzhou branch of the TSPM and the provincial CCC suddenly ousted Gu, a member of the CCC’s Standing Committeeand chairman of the provincial CCC, from his position as senior pastor of China’s largest official megachurch, Chongyi Church On Jan. 27, authorities charged Gu with “embezzling funds,” criminally detained him, and formally arrested him on Feb. 6. Shocked by Gu’s arrest, local Christians vouched for his integrity, saying authorities retaliated against him for openly opposing their demolition of crosses. On March 31, Gu was released on bail and is currently awainting trial. He was warned by the police “not to accept interviews by reporters” and to “ask for permission if [you wish to] leave town”. Pastor Bao Guohua and his wife, Xing Wenxiang, received heavy sentences, and their son was released on probation, because the staff at their church, which is a part of the TSPM, refused to help demolish the cross topping Sheng’ai Church in Jinhua. On July 26, 2015, Bao and his wife were criminally detained. Officials found Bao and Xing, along with eight other core church members, guilty of four crimes: embezzlement, gathering a crowd to disturb order, illegal 25

business operations, and concealing accounting documents, accounting books, or financial statements. Bao was sentenced to 14 years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of 100,000 Yuan (U.S. $15,300). Xing received a 12-year prison sentence and was fined 90,000 Yuan (U.S. $13,770). Authorities also confiscated assets totaling 600,000 Yuan (U.S. $91,850) from the couple. Their son received a three-year prison sentence and was placed on probation. Another pastor, Zhang Chongzhu, was charged with a series of crimes, expelled from the clergy, and prohibited from doing church ministry. On Aug. 28, 2015, Pastor Zhang was criminally detained for protesting against government-backed cross demolitions.. In Sept. 2015, he was placed under “residential surveillance in a designated location” for “stealing, spying, buying, or illegally providing state secrets or intelligence to entities outside China.” He faced official arrest on March 9, 2016, on the same charge and was released on bail on May 9. On Oct. 29, the Zhejiang provincial CCC and TSPM, expelled him from the clergy and revoked a certificate licensing him to preach. He was also forbidden to preach and evangelize. Like many other church leaders, pastor Li Guanzhong and his wife were criminally detained on fabricated charges. On Jan. 29, 2016, Li, senior pastor of Puyang Christian Church, and his wife, Zhang Shuzhen, a member of the church committee, received criminal detention sentences on charges of accepting bribes and embezzlement while their church was relocating. Local Christians disclosed that Puyang Church was once asked to remove its cross. Li and his wife refused, therefore, Christians speculated that this triggered the criminal charge. He Jiyi is the person in charge of Xialing Christian Church in Lucheng District, Wenzhou. On the morning of May 8, 2016, after the Sunday worship service, after an event at Xialing Church, a local party secretary and Xu Jianyun, a village resident, and several other people encircled He Jiyi and Lin Nansong, an elder at the church, on the second floor and asked them to withdraw a lawsuit. The suit, which Xialing Church submitted to the court two days earlier, argued against an administrative demolition notice from a government office. When He refused to sign the withdrawal request notice, Xu wouldn’t let him go. He then swore at He and slapped He’s face very hard in front of everybody. The victim’s glasses suddenly flew off, and Xu continued hitting him until he saw stars and almost fainted. Xu did not stop until someone else pulled him away. However, Xu Jianyun kept shouting threats to break He’s legs. Mei Xueshun, a Christian from Yayang Church who owns a pharmacy business in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, was taken into police custody as a result of resisting cross demolition on March 17. On April 21, he was arrested for “manufacturing and selling counterfeit medicine.” Continuous persecution against church leaders and core members Zhang Wenhe, a member of a house church named Holy Love Fellowship Church, served one month in criminal custody for meeting with other Christians to worship after police took him into custody on Jan. 24, 2014. After his release, police placed him under strict surveillance in his home and barred him from leaving.. On March 4, 2014, Zhang Wenhe was transferred to Changping Mental Healthcare Center, where he stayed until Nov. 18, 2015. He is still prohibited from leaving his home.. On Feb. 17, Cheng Jie, the director of the Hualin Foreign Language Experimental Kindergarten in Liuzhou, Guangxi, was released from the Guangxi Women’s Prison after serving two years 26

for “engaging in illegal business operations.” Due to ongoing harassment from police, Cheng Jie has not been able to find a job in Liuzhou. Her family plans to leave Liuzhou to begin anew. Yang Lirong, a leader of the Gold Lampstand Church in Linfen, Shanxi, was released from prison on Oct. 10 after serving seven years. She is still barred from leading the church, going wherever she wants, or accepting interviews by reporters. Christians charged with cult activities On Nov. 27, eight Christians were detained by police in Kunming, Yunnan, on the charge of “using a cult organization to undermine law enforcement.” One of the detainees is from Taiwan and the rest are members of Kunming’s Local Church, which the government often views with suspicion, even though many Christians claim that the Local Church is a non-heretical Christian sect. Christian children forbidden from attending Sunday school and deprived of access to the Christian faith On June 15, when 13 children were attending a Sunday school service held by a house church in Zunyi, Guizhou, police and YuXinqi, director of the local politics and law committee, arrived and summoned all of the teachers for a meeting, at which they were told not to let their students to attend the church. On June 23, a notice was sent to all the schools in the local town claiming that, based off of the intent and requests of a higher-level government meeting, taking minors to religious sites and activities is strictly prohibited. On June 28, when a local Christian’s grandson was admitted to a military academy, police asked his family to sign a form that stated they would no longer attend church activities. If they continued to participate, he would be denied admission. Additionally, the local religious affairs office and the police repeatedly warned Christians that, if they brought their children to church, they would not be allowed to attend college or a military academy. On Aug. 4, Zhou Yanhua, the person in charge of a church in China’s northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and Gao Ming, a member of the church, were preparing to drive a group of children to a summer camp when, half an hour before they were set to depart, police arrived, detained the two women, and took all of the children present to the police station to register their IDs. Officials also called the families and school teachers of the children involved, threatening to deduct the teachers’ wages or keep the students from being admitted to higher grade levels. Gao and Zhou were detained for 10 and 15 days, respectively, on the charge of indoctrinating minors with superstitious beliefs. To prevent children from accessing Christianity, the Zhejiang government established community culture and activity centers for seniors, cultural halls, leisure activity centers for children, the “Happy Sunday Program”, the “Children’s School”, etc., in Yangyi, Tengqiao, and Shanfu to attract seniors and children on the weekends, hoping to keep elderly people from taking children to church. 27

Evangelistic activities shut down On Feb. 8, when authorities learned that Jiang Junying, a member of Zhongfu Tongxin Church in Shantou, Guangdong, was on a sidewalk distributing Gospel leaflets to passersby, they dispatched local public security bureau officers to detain her and confiscate her handouts. They interrogated her for several hours and told her not to evangelize on the street. Gao Ming, a 27 year-old student at Yanjing Theological Seminary, went back to her hometown in Xinjiang during summer break to share the Gospel and serve in the local church-sponsored summer camp. In early August, the summer camp was interrupted by the local police and several evangelists were taken into custody. Gao was held behind bars for 15 days. Before Christmas, a house church in Hangzhou was preparing to hold “The Light of Life 2016 Gospel Event” at a restaurant on Dec. 18. The authorities forced the venue to cancel the event. Local Christians indicated that they had planned to hold two Gospel-related events and expected a few hundred people to attend. However, the restaurant was notified by the public security bureau that it was disallowed to lease the space for religious activities. Churches leaders barred from leaving China for overseas religious activities On Nov. 11, Kang Jinqun, pastor of Jesus Christ Church in Nanyang, Henan, went to the Sheqi County Public Security Bureau to apply for a passport and a pass to Hong Kong and Macau on Nov. 11, but authorities refused to issue his documents because he had been blacklisted as a practitioner of Falun Gong, a peaceful spiritual practice demonized by the Chinese government. The local police station issued a certificate proving that he was not a Falun Gong practitioner, and he attempted to re-apply, but was denied again. Several Chinese house church leaders en route to a conference in Jeju, South Korea, entitled “Mission China 2030” were held up at the Beijing and Shanghai airports on Sept. 25 and 26 and prevented from attending the event. Some of the facilitators included Pastor Cui Quan from Shanhai’s Wanbang Church, Senior Pastor Xia Youguang from Shanghai’s Jiayin Church, Pastor Li Feng from Beijing, and several church staff members. Massive persecution targeting house churches in the name of creating a safe environment for G-20 Summit According to news published on the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau of Zhejiang Province dated July 28, all administrative departments in Zhejiang were ordered to distribute “The Rectification Action Plan Targeting the Security of Religious Sites to Create a Safe Environment for the G20 Summit,” beginning in mid-July.. Religious sites in Hangzhou were not allowed to hold large-scale religious activities from July 1 to the end of the summit. Reports from believers in Wenzhou, Hangzhou, Shaoxing, Taizhou, and Ningbo say the authorities closed many house churches in order to prepare for the summit and ordered Christians not to hold Sunday church services. Local house churches were told to stop Bible study meetings from July 18 until the end of the G20 Summit. In early July, Hangzhou’s CCC and TSPM demanded the effective management of their websites, strict censorship of information put on the websites, and the correct guidance of 28

public opinion. Prior to the G20 Summit, the public security bureau told all house churches in Hangzhou were told not to assemble, forcing them to dissolve into small groups that met at the homes of individual Christians. .A security check device was installed at the entrance of Chongyi Church, and people entering the church went through a security checkpoint and had their belongings searched. Foreign missionaries harassed and barred from serving in Chinese churches Beijing police invaded a worship service at Truth Baptist Church on Oct. 9, 2016, after a local reported the meeting to authorities. The service was dispersed, and pastors Hui Rui and Zheng Yuan, two missionaries from the American Independent Baptist Church who have been serving in China for 20 years, were forced to leave the country the next day. These two missionaries made enormous contributions to the development of Chinese churches, and their absence at the church is sorely felt. In Dec. 1994, Hu Shigen was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment and deprived of political rights for five years by the Beijing Municipal Intermediate People’s Court for “organizing and leading a counterrevolutionary organization” and “spreading counterrevolutionary ideas.”On Aug. 26, 2008, after serving 16 years in prison, Hu was released and then served as an elder of Holy Love Christian Church, Zhongyuan Church, and Yahebo Church, all of which are located in Beijing. In May 2014, police summoned and detained him for he for attending a “Seminar on theTiananmen Square Incident” and didn’t release him until July of that year.. On July 10, 2015, he was arrested again during a nationwide mass arrest of human rights defenders, called the “709 incident.” He was formally arrested on Jan. 8, 2016, on the charge of “subverting state power” and tried on July 15 of the same year. On the morning of Aug. 3, the Tianjin Municipal No. 2 Intermediate Court found Hu guilty of subverting state power and sentenced him to seven years and six months’ imprisonment with a five-year deprivation of political rights.. Another defendant in Hu’s case, Christian rights defender Gou Hongguo, was sentenced to three years in prison with a probationary period of three years. At the same time, Christian rights activist Zhai Yamin, was also given a suspended three-year prison sentence. Jailed for life on the falsified charge of “organizing and leading a terrorist organization” and permanently denied political rights, Peng Ming, a pro-democracy Christian dissident arrested in October 2005, was found dead on a prison floor on Nov. 29. Authorities informed Peng’s family that he died of heart disease. Subsequently, various government agencies got involved and paramilitary police guarded Peng’s body. Peng’s elder brother was placed under house arrest and told not to “get in trouble,” and the death certificate was confiscated. On Dec. 5, the brother learned that officials removed Peng’s heart and brain without the family’s prior permission. . Paranoia surrounding “foreign power’s interference with China’s internal affairs,” prompted 29

China’s central government to allow only one of Peng’s overseas family members to come to China for his funeral. The others were forbidden from entering the country. Although serving a life sentence, Peng maintained a vigorous sense of mission and Christian faith, and he survived 12 years in the CCP’s prison. Before his sudden death, he was optimistic and healthy, with no sign of illness. Therefore, those who watch China’s political sphere and the members Peng’s family have good reason to believe that the government assassinated Peng on account of his advocacy, revealing the Communist Party’s villainous intent to eradicate all dissidents. Just after his release, Zhao Changqing, a Christian rights activist and prisoner of conscience imprisoned for participating in the “New Citizen Movement,” was charged with “disorderly behavior” and criminally detained again by the Fengtai Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau’s on June 1. Currently, he is detained at the Beijing Fengtai Detention Center. Christian human rights lawyers tried, arrested, and monitored On Jan. 29, after a 20-month detention period, the Guangzhou Intermediate Court ruled that Christian human rights lawyer Tang Jingling guilty of “inciting subversion of state power” and handed him a five-year prison sentence and three years’ deprivation of political rights, while lawyers Yuan Xinting and Wang Qingying were sentenced to three-and-a-half and two-and-ahalf years in prison, respectively. On May 31, the Guangdong Provincial High Court sustained the rulings. Attorney Zhang Kai handled Xiaoshan Religious Case and the Linfen Religious Case, defended many house churches that were illegally targeted by the government, and facilitated and mediated efforts to move the church-and-state relationship in a positive direction. On Aug. 25, 2015, he was taken from the church that hosted him while he defended churches affected by Zhejiang province’s cross demolition campaign and charged with “gathering a crowd to disturb public order” and “stealing, spying, buying and illegally providing state secrets and intelligence to entities outside of China.” For six months, authorities held him under “residential surveillance at an undisclosed location,” which is the official language for China’s unofficial “black jails,” where dissidents are often sequestered away from their families. During this time, his family and lawyers were not allowed to meet with him or know his whereabouts.. On Feb. 25, 2016, the Wenzhou government’s official website published “The truths about Zhang Kai’s case,” and, a TV station aired an 11-minute show titled “Behind Zhang Kai’s Case” in which Zhang was forced to confess to his crimes. It shocked the public. At 9 p.m. on Feb. 26, Zhang was criminally detained by the Wenzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau. As a result of the overseas media and domestic churches closely monitoring the case, he was released on bail and went back to his parents’ home in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. On Aug. 30, he published a statement indicating that his criticism of lawyer Zhou Shifeng in media interviews “was not out of my true intention and rather out of great duress.” Immediately following these comments, all the content on his Weibo was deleted. On the evening of Aug. 30, police from the Wenzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau arrived in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia to pressure Zhang, asking why he revoked his original statements regarding Zhou.. On Dec. 27, he was summoned for interrogation by police from Zhejiang, Guizhou, and Inner Mongolia, which lasted 48 hours, and was released to go home later the same day. 30

On July 10, 2015, during the world-shocking “709 incident,” Li Heping, a Christian human rights lawyer based in Beijing, was seized by China’s Ministry of Public Security for no reason. Within 48 hours, an estimated 57 rights lawyers and activists vanished into police custody, were summoned for questioning, put under house arrest, or interviewed by the police. In early Dec. 2016, Li was prosecuted by the Tianjin Municipal Procuratorate on the charge of “subverting state power.” His lawyer has not bee allowed to visit him, and Li was placed in solitary confinement. Additionally, the government interfered with the education of his young children and pressured landlords into constantly evicting his family, so that they had to move often and endure many hardships. In a bid to discover information about his situation, Wang Qiaoling, Li’s wife, travelled between Beijing and Tianjin many times, mostly in vain. His family suffers on a daily basis because security maintenance officials constantly stalk and monitor his wife. His parents, who are living in Henan, are also constantly harassed by government agents and police, and their life is very difficult. In Nov. 2016, lawyer Jiang Tianyong went to Changsha, Henan, to visit Professor Chen Guiqiu, the wife of imprisoned lawyer Xie Yang. During his stay, he accompanied Chen and Xie Yang's two defense lawyers to the Changsha Detention Center to learn about meeting with Xie Yang. At 10 p.m. on Nov. 21, Jiang Tianyong told his wife, Jin Bianling, that he purchased D940 train tickets back to Beijing and that he was heading to the room from which he would depart.. Afterwards, his wife lost contact with him. On Dec. 1, the Changsha Municipal Public Security Bureau placed Jiang under “residential surveillance at a designated location” on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power.” Treating Christianity with overt hostility, limiting the spread of the Gospel, and disrupting Christianity-related social activities In 2016, the Chinese government cracked down on religion on college campuses, interfering with students’ conversions to Christianity, sabotaging Gospel-related summer camps, restricting evangelism on college campus, registering and monitoring Christian students, prohibiting students from holding and joining Christmas activities, taking compulsory measures to brainwash students with atheism, slandering and demeaning Christianity, etc. A university in Jiangsu asked students to fill out a form about their religious beliefs, which covers whether or not they have partaken in a conversion ceremony, (if Christian or Catholic) whether or not they have benn baptized, whether or not they regularly attend a church service,, whether or not they have attended religious activities for a long time, information about such religious activities if they attend them, whether they read religious books, etc. The government of Lishui, a city in China’s coastal Zhejiang province, has been removing religious activity from college campus, instilling atheism into college freshmen through experts and officials, and excluding theism and various religions. In September, the Lishui Vocational and Technical College invited the head of the Lishui Municipal Religious Affairs Bureau, Zhang Liangming, to provide a religious counseling session, entitled, “Building a Correct 31

Outlook on Life; Consciously Resisting the Corrosiveness of Religious Ideology and Every Type of Theism.” More than 100 teachers and 400 freshmen from the college attended the lecture. On Sept. 28, several female Christian college students from a church in Qingdao, Shandong, were administratively detained by the police for sharing the Gospel on their campus.. Prior to their detention, they were placed in a cell-like cage with their cellphones confiscated, and they were verbally abused by police officers. In mid-Oct., a picture that went viral on the internet showed a sign on China’s renowned Renmin University’s campus that says “No religious activities allowed.” According to a WeChat message, the security center at Polytechnic College in Shangqiu, Henan, received a formal notice from the public security bureau, saying that the bureau would crackdown on people attending Christmas Even services and all school departments ought to keep students away from such activities. Those who failed to comply would be punished. Yang Fenggang, a professor of sociology from Purdue University and a renowned Christian researcher and scholar, had been scheduled to give a lecture entitled “The Development of Global Chinese Christianity and the Restructuring of International Order” on Sept. 5 at Huanan Polytechnic University in Guangzhou, and the lecture had been announced to the public, but the school told Yang that the lecture was cancelled because certain government agencies ordered the school “not to provide a platform for overseas forces.” Religious activities prohibited in state-run hospitals In August, the Wenzhou Central Hospital, which was originally established as a Protestant hospital and claimed by the Communist government in 1949, posted a public notice that stated “Religious activities are banned in this hospital,” and prohibited Christians from praying for patients and sharing the Gospel with them. According to local Christians, for many years, Christians in Wenzhou would go to hospitals to pray for patients and evangelize, which many of the patients welcomed. Such an order deprives patients of their right to spiritual care and infringes on the Christian’s practice within the hospital The Wenzhou Central Hospital was established by two British missionaries in the late Qing Dynasty and originally called “Dingli Hospital”, which was a Christian hospital. Grassroots governments: blatantly interfere with Christian weddings and funerals, show favoritism to other religions, and use violence against Christians In the three decades after China opened up and reformed, Christianity spread rapidly throughout the nation, influencing even many non-Christians to have a Christian-style wedding. On Feb. 2, 2016, Zhang Junhua, a villager from Linfen, Shanxi invited a local church and choir to celebrate his wedding. The local Party Secretary, Zhang Mengshou, instigated his son and a group of rogues to break into the wedding scene and smash property, including musical instruments. They injured many wedding guests. Those at the wedding tried to stop them in vain. Zhang’s family and some local residents called the police more than 10 times, but officers never arrived. 32

There were also reported disruptions of Christian funeral services in this village. After 20 people tried to forcibly take a three-acre soybean field owned by a Christian named Bai Fengju a week prior, a gang bulldozed it on June 12 in order to build a Buddhist temple on the site. They encircled the field as part of their construction site and built walls around it. A gang member named Liu Zigeng threatened to skin Bai alive if he did not cease confronting them. Pan Dingqun, the Party Secretary of Nanjueshan Village in Lingbao, Henan, believed that Meng’en Church had obstructed his prosperity, so he attempted to demolish the church and use the land and build a Buddhist temple. On July 27, he hired an electrician to cut off the church’s power supply, but church members pulled the electrician away from the power pole. Nanjueshan Village has about 400 households, and 30% of the residents are Christians. More than 60 Christians in the village signed a petition against the demolition of the church. Christianity-related publications banned On July 18, according to a report, “Quanzhou takes ‘three measures’ to strengthen the management of religious publications” on the website of China’s National Religious Affairs Bureau, the Quanzhou Municipal Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau will launch the “Two Musts” and “Three No’s” campaigns, and meanwhile, the bureau found and dealt with tens of illegal religious publications including Christian books and burned 400 copies of illegal religious materials. The “Two Musts” means religious publications must have book numbers and print numbers and must be subject to review and approval. The so-called “Three No’s” refers to no printing, no displaying, and no circulating illegal publications. In fact, most hymn books and literature used in Christian churches in China do not have book numbers and are not officially published. They are mostly copies made by believers for internal use. The implementation of the “Two Musts” and “three No’s” means most of the Christian books will need to be destroyed. Li Hongmin, a member of Guangfu Church in Guangzhou, was criminally detained by the authorities on June 6, 2016, for “illegal business operations.” On Oct. 17, the Baiyun District Court tried his case. The prosecution paper accused Li of printing illegal religious books and confiscated 125 kinds of illegally printed religious materials, totaling 115,740 copies, including 113,812 copies of 123 books, such as Caleb Huang’s Commentary on Genesis, and 1,928 copies of two photocopied books, such as Streams in the Desert. Most of these books circulated for churches’ internal use free of charge. A Hong Kong pastor named Wu Hua, who engaged in printing Christian books, was charged with fraud and arrested in mainland China. In July 2015, Wu disappeared while evangelizing in Guangzhou. Printing Christian books and raising funds for it, Wu was taken into police custody on the charge of “raising funds and frauds” and detained at a detention center in Guangzhou. The Guangzhou Municipal Intermediate Court tried Wu on Feb. 19, and the capital involved in this case totaled 100 million Yuan ($14,539,110.00 USD). However, the primary defendant in this casewas a house church leader, Lin Jingying, who printed Bibles and materials for house churches to use, which authorities labeled as illegal publications. 33

Christian church-backed charity ministry suppressed The Home of Love Rehabilitation Farm is a Christian non-profit charity sponsored by the Home of Love Church for Gospel Drug Treatment. It specializes in treating people with addictions, mental health problems, gambling habits, alcoholism, etc., free of charge via the use of Christian rehabilitation centers in Zhaoqing, Guangdong and Lijiang, Yunnan. Many of the church members formerly received treatment and reported vast improvements. In the three years since its establishment, it has served more than 180 people. The church’s leaders, Lin Haixin and his wife, are originally from Hong Kong. On Nov. 26 and 27, officials from the public security and religious affairs bureaus surrounded the church, confiscated its computer and religious materials, banned it from holding religious services, and dispersed the people gathered there. Li Haixin and his wife vanished into police custody. On Feb 4, more than 100 personnel from multiple government departments raided one location of the Shenzhen Christian Care Center in Huizhou, Guangdong, seized tens of people, including people with disabilities, a two-month old infant, and people with mental health illnesses, and relocated them to another shelter. The Shenzhen Christian Care Center was established in 2011 for the care of marginalized people in society, including the homeless and people with acute needs. On June 30, the authorities outlawed its care center in a neighborhood in Shenzhen, saying it “conducted illegal religious activities.” III.

Statistics and Schematic Analysis of Government Persecution of Churches and Christians in Mainland China in 2016

Note that the following data and information are based on reports of Christian persecution that China Aid received in 2016 and therefore may only represent a fraction of the actual abuses that occurred. Though not comprehensive, these cases cover a wide range of Chinese provinces and municipalities, are diverse in nature, and represent a variety of individual backgrounds, including urban and rural house churches, house churches and Three-Self churches, individual religious practitioners, such as pastors, evangelists, missionaries, and laypeople, Christians in public realms (human rights lawyers and political dissidents, etc.), college students, high school students, children, business owners, and ethnic minority Christians such as Tibetans and Uyghurs. A statistical analysis will provide a vivid and clear picture of the overall circumstance and severity of persecution faced by Chinese churches and Christians in mainland China in 2016. Unless otherwise stated, all percentages have been calculated in comparison to data gathered in 2015. It also bears mentioning that, while all types of abuse greatly concern our organization, the reports we receive primarily concern Christians. As such, violations of the rights of other groups, such as Falun Gong practitioners, Tibetan Buddhists, and Uyghur Muslims, are not represented by this chart. However, the unfortunately frequent and unrestrained persecution of Chinese citizens of all faiths demonstrates China’s blatant disregard for the freedoms of its people and constantly threatens the lives and security those we represent. Comparing the data in six categories with that collected in 2015—the total number of persecution cases, total number of people persecuted, number of people arrested, abused and 34

sentenced, number of abuse cases—the overall situation in 2016 shows the following changes. Please refere to table 3-1, graph 3-1, and graph 3-2 below for details. Note: the total number of people persecuted and the number of people arrested are relative numbers. For example: the total number of people persecuted in 2016 >48,100. Table 3-1：Comparison of persecution by year in six categories Year 2015 2016 No. of persecution cases 634 762 No. detained >19,426 (church leaders > 1,728) >48,100 (church leaders >1,800) No. arrested >3,178 (church leaders > 521) >3,526 (church leaders >600) No. sentenced 232 303 No. of abuse cases 195 278 No. of people abused 463 785 The 762 persecution cases documented in 2016 represent an increase of 20.2 percent. The more than 48,100 people who were detained comprise an increase of 147.6 percent. Of those, more than 1,800 church leaders were harassed, which is an increase of 4.2 percent. The number of people arrested—more than 3,526—was up 11 percent. This includes more than 600 church leaders, an increase of 15.2 percent from 2015. 303 people were sentenced to prison terms, an increase of 30 percent. This year, there were 278 abuse cases, including physical, verbal, mental abuse and torture— 42.6 percent more than in 2015. The 785 people who were abused constituted an increase of 69.5 percent.

35

图3-1：2015-2016年受逼迫人数比较 Graph 3-1: comparison of the No. of people persecuted in 2015 and 2016

48100

19426

迫害总人数

1728 1800

3178 3526

迫害教会领袖

拘捕总人数 2015年

521

600

拘捕教会领袖

232

303

判刑人数

463

785

虐待人数

2016年

In the above graph, the blue columns represent data gathered in 2015, and the red columns signify data collected in 2016. From left to right, the categories are: total number of persecuted people, number of church leaders persecuted, total number of arrested people, arrested church leaders, sentenced people, and abused people.

36

图3-2：2015-2016年逼迫事件比较 762 634

278 195 迫害事件

虐待事件 2015年

2016年

As in the last graph, blue represents 2015 and red represents 2016. The categories are, from left to right, number of persecution incidences and number of abuse incidences.

When juxtaposed with 2015, information garnered about persecution in 2016 charts an increase of more than 10 percent in the six categories mentioned above, proving that the oppression of the Communist Party is intensifying at an annual rate.

37

Changes over the decade: from 2007 to 2016 Number of people persecuted from 2007 to 2016 60000

图3-3：2007-2016年受逼迫人数比较 迫害人数

拘捕人数

判刑人数

虐待人数

50000

40000

30000

20000

10000

0

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

迫害人数

788

2027

2935

3343

4322

4919

7424 17884 19426 48100

拘捕人数

693

764

389

556

1289

1441

1470

2994

3178

3526

判刑人数

16

35

23

6

4

9

12

1274

232

303

虐待人数

35

60

114

63

76

37

50

242

463

785

In the graph above, the blue line represents the number of people persecuted; the red line Shows the number of people arrested; the green line signifies the number of people sentenced; and the purple line represents the number of abused people.

As indicated by Graph 3-3, during the decade from 2007 to 2016, the limited data China Aid collected in the above-mentioned four categories demonstrates the following trends in terms of the government’s persecution of churches and Christians in mainland China: Over a 10-year span, the statistics across the four categories changed drastically: the lowest category increased 4.5 times, and the number of people persecuted has increased 60 times. 38

From 2007-2011, all categories except for the number of people persecuted did not show remarkable growth, and the number of peope sentenced decreased, according to China Aid’s data., However, comparing the recent five years (2012-2016) with the previous five years (2007-2011), an abrupt change is seen; most of the numbers have increased significantly, and only the number of sentenced people did not consistenly grow. This discrepancy could be explained by the limits of China Aid’s data collection, or because the CCP chose to adopt cruel and non-legal ways to punish dissidents, such as forced disappearance, to persecute Christians. Number of persecution cases: from 2007 to 2016

图3-4：2007-2016年逼迫事件比较 迫害事件 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0

虐待事件

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

迫害事件

60

74

77

90

93

132

143

572

634

762

虐待事件

17

19

9

18

24

28

16

71

195

278

In the image above, the blue line represents the number of persecution incidences, and the red line represents the number of people abused.

As indicated by Graph 3-4, during the decade from 2007 to 2016, the limited data China Aid collected in the number of persecution cases and the number of people abused cases demonstrates the following trends in the government’s persecution of churches and Christians in mainland China: In a 10-year span, the numbers increased by at least 10 times, making the escalating persecution very obvious. In recent years, the persecution rate has climbed dramatically. Comparing the five-year spans from 2007-2011 and 2012-2016, government harassment nearly doubled in the first set of years, but it increased four times in the latter set. IV.

A Partial List of Persecution Cases in 2016

Note: Due to the overwhelming amount of reporting China Aid receives on the religious persecution of house churches, the terms “Christian”, “church”, and “meeting” all refer to those within the house church context unless otherwise noted. News links to some cases are not provided for the sake of protecting the victims, or because the original links are no longer accessible. Likewise, articles regarding some of the cases below were only published in Chinese. If available, the links will redirect to reporting on our English website, and all the others will go 39

to its Chinese counterpart. 1. Municipalities directly under the central government (Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing): 93 total persecution cases (last year: 83), more than 2,300 people persecuted (last year: more than 2,126), more than 472 peope detained (last year: 315) and more than 14 sentenced (last year: 12). Table 4-1: A partial list of persecution cases in the municipalities directly under the central government in mainland China in 2016

Date

Jan. 9

Instance Hu Shigen and Liu Sixin charged with “subversion of state power;” 11 arrested in the massive arrest campaign

Mode of Persecution

Number of People Persecuted

Arrest

>10

Harassment

>1

Arrest

>4

Criminal detention

>3

Sentencing

>2

For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/01/beijingchurch-elder-formally-arrested.html

Jan. 13

Christian Zhang Wenhe kept in mental hospital for 20 months and deprived of freedom after release For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/01/beijinghouse-church-member-confined-to.html

Lawyer Li Heping officially arrested for the crime of “subverting state power” Jan. 19

June 1

For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/01/authorities-arresthuman-rights-lawyer.html

Christian Zhao Changqing criminally detained for commemorating the Tiananmen Square Massacre For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/06/daysbefore-tiananmen-square.html

Beijing house church elder Hu Shigen sentenced to 7.5 Aug. years’ imprisonment for “subversion of state power” 3 40

For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/08/chinaaid-president-issues-statement-on.html

Oct. 7

Beijing house church Holy Love Fellowship’s gathering disrupted by police For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/10/blogpost_23.html

Interruption of church gathering

>15

2. Northeast China (Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang): 74 total persecution cases (last year: 71), more than 1,900 people persecuted (last year: more than 1,748), 193 detained (last year: 179), and 27 sentenced (last year: 29). Table 4-2: A partial list of persecution cases in northeast China in 2016

Date

Mode of Persecution

Instance

Number of People Persecuted

A church in Hegang, Heilongjiang raided by police Aug. 22

For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/09/housechurch-member-sues-authorities.html

Searched

>50

3. North China (Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Shanxi): 85 total persecution cases (last year: 79), more than 2,200 people persecuted (last year: more than 2,128), 187 detained (last year: 212), and 15 sentenced (last year: 22). Table 4-3: A partial list of persecution cases in north China in 2016

Date

Instance

Mode of Persecution

Number of People Persecuted

Destruction

>5

A Christian’s wedding in Linfen, Shanxi, was smashed and destroyed by men sent by the local Party Secretary Feb. 2

For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/02/blogpost_5.html

41

Yang Jianwei, a priest in Hebei province, disappeared while taking driving exam April 15 For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/05/catholicpriest-vanishes-during-driving.html

Oct. 10

Dec. 29

Church leader Yang Lirong’s personal freedom restricted after release from prison in Shanxi’s Lifen For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/10/blogpost_20.html

A church of 1,000 members faced forcible demolition in Hebei’s Langfang; Christians beat and injured by gangsters hired by land developers For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2017/01/blogpost_3.html

Forced disappearance

>1

Restriction of personal freedom

>4

Christians beat and injured

>1,000

4. Northwest China (Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai, and Shaanxi): 126 total persecution cases (last year: 91), more than 2,900 people persecuted (last year: more than 2,759), 528 detained (last year: 489), and 58 sentenced (last year: 46). Table 4-4: A partial list of persecution cases in northwest China in 2016

Date

April 11

July 7

Instance

Mode of Persecution

Number of People Persecuted

Arrest

>40

Administrative detention; forbidden to leave home

>200

Six Christians arrested for gathering in Changji, Xinjiang For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/04/christiansdetained-for-attending-bible.html

Christians in Hotan, Xinjiang, taken into custody for evangelism; Pastor and family forbidden to leave home in Huocheng, Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture 42

For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/07/blogpost_55.html

Two Christians detained in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Aug. 4 For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/08/blogpost_19.html

State-run seminary students detained for evangelism Early August For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/09/christiancamp-leaders-detained-accused_69.html

Nov. 11

Christians in Urumqi taken into police custody for gathering; tens of Christians in Xinjiang seized within two months For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/11/xinjiangescalates-pressure-against.html

Dec. 30

Administrative detention

>100

Administrative detention

>1

Administrative detention; criminal detention

>50

Sentenced

>2

Christian Ma Huichao from Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture sentenced to three years in prison For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2017/01/xinjiangwoman-receives-three-year.html

5. East China (Shandong, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian and Jiangxi): 135 total persecution cases (last year: 106), more than 28,200 people persecuted (last year: more than 4,082), 982 detained (last year: 816), and 67 sentenced (last year: 41).

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Table 4-5: A partial list of persecution cases in east China in 2016

Date

Instance

Three churches and their crosses demolished in Fujian and Zhejiang. Jan. 67

Jan. 25-28

For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/01/blogpost_35.html Two churches’ crossed demolished in Rui’an and Jiaxing; six crossed removed within a week

Mode of Persecution

Number of People Persecuted

Forced demolition

>1,500

Forced demolition

>3,000

Criminal detention

>3

Forced demolition

>500

Sentenced

>12

Forced demolition

>2,500

For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/01/6.html

Jan. 29

Pastor Li Guanzhong and his wife criminally detained for “corruption” after he openly opposes cross demolition For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/02/highranking-officials-oppose-cross.html Tangxia Church’s cross demolished by gangsters in Rui’an

Feb. 24 For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/02/blogpost_83.html

Pastor Bao Guohua and Xing Wenxiang given heavy sentences by Jinhua Municipal Court Feb. 25 For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/02/pastorwife-sentenced-to-10-plus-years.html Multiple churches in Rui’an received cross Feb. 25 demolition notice; cross of a Catholic church in Wenzhou demolished 44

For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/02/blogpost_69.html

Pastor Joseph Gu removed from clergy and job title by Zhejiang’s CCC and TSPM Jan. 18 For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/02/tspmpastor-arrested-after-opposing.html

March 1

The crosses of Dongtou Church and Cangnan Church in Wenzhou are destroyed

March 4

For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/03/blogpost_3.html Rui’an-based Hai’an Christian Church’s cross forcibly demolished by nearly 100 people For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/03/blogpost_7.html Four churches’ crosses forcibly demolished in Wenzhou and Yueqing

March 10-11

March 14-19

>1

Cross demolished forcibly

>1,000

Cross demolished forcibly

>2,500

For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/03/blogpost_46.html Five churches’ crosses forcibly demolished in two days

March 2-3

Removed from clergy and administrative position

For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/03/authoritiescontinue-cross-demolitions.html Twenty churches’ crossed demolished by Wenzhou government; township government internal document demanded the demolition of 17 crosses For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/03/2017.html 45

Cross demolished forcibly

>1,000

Cross demolished forcibly

>2,000

Cross demolished forcibly

>10,000

Yudou Christian Church in Rui’an demolished April 13

April 21

>500

For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/04/blogpost_14.html

Church demolished forcibly

Wenzhou Christians falsely charged with “selling counterfeit medicine” for opposing forcible cross demolition

Arrest

>3

For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/07/blogpost_80.html

April 25

A Zhejiang-based church leader and two family members criminally detained for meeting with American officials

Criminal detention

>3

For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/04/family-detainedafter-contacting-us.html

A letter of grievance from Guanyang Christian Church in Fuzhou, Fujian May 6 For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/05/blogpost_17.html

May 12

Forced demolition

>1,200

Destruction

>70

Beat

>1

Banzhuang Church in Anhui destroyed by authorities; law suit rejected by Procuratorate For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/08/blogpost_13.html

He Jiyi, a church leader at Xialing Church in Wenzhou, reports being injured

May 8

For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/05/wenzhou-housechurch-leader-beaten-by.html

46

Zhuyang Church forcibly demolished in Wenzhou; church members gathered on the rubble to protest May 20

For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/06/wenzhouchristians-hold-service-in.html

Forced demolition

>500

Searched

>1,000

Searched and shut down

Around 100

Removed from clergy

>3

Gathering forbidden

>300

Forced demolition

>500

A house church in Ma’anshan, Anhui, searched Early August For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/09/blogpost_84.html

A house church in Doumen, Zhejiang, shut down Sept. 29

For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/11/zhejiang-officialsorder-house-church.html

Pastor Zhang Chongzhu removed from clergy for opposing cross demolition Oct. 29

Dec. 18

Dec. 23

For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/11/wenzhou-pastorousted-from-position.html

Hotel succumbs to police pressure and evicts Hangzhou house church For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/12/hotelcancels-christmas-services-after.html Wenzhou church’s cross forcibly demolished before Christmas For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/12/blogpost_23.html

6. South China (Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan): 105 total persecution cases (last year: 85), more than 3,300 people persecuted (last year: more than 3,135), 498 detained (last year: 632), and 47 sentenced (last year: 32). 47

Table 4-6: A partial list of persecution cases in south China in 2016

Date

Instance

Mode of Persecution

Number of People Persecuted

Sentenced

>2

Harassment

>3

Sealed off and outlawed

>700

Taken into police custody

>200

Tang Jingling sentenced to prison by the Guangzhou Municipal Intermediate Court for “inciting the subversion of state power” Jan. 29

For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/01/guangdongauthorities-to-announce-china.html

Feb. 21

Cheng Jie released from prison after serving time; she and family relocate due to police harrassment For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/02/church-runkindergarten-director.html

Christian care center in Huizhou, Guangdong, raided by 100 government agents; tens sent to shelter by force Feb. 4

For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/02/officials-raidchristian-care-center.html

Feb. 8

Zhongfu Tongxin Church members taken into police custody for evangelism For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/02/officialsdetain-christian-repeatedly.html

48

Guangfu Church faces eviction; church gatherings suspended April 23

For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/05/authoritiestighten-pressure-against.html

May 29

May 30

May 22

Sealed off, outlawed, and summoned

>100

Tangxia-based Zhongfu Church’s offering box looted For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/05/blogpost_31.html

Three Christians in Shantou, Guangdong, arrested for receiving bibles

Searched and looted

>30

Arrest

>3

For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/05/blogpost_94.html

Zhongfu Canaan Church in Dongguan, Guangdong, forced to join TSPM For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/06/house-churchharassed-in-growing.html

Forced to join TSPM >70

Christian in Guangzhou criminally detained on suspicion of “conducting illegal business operations” For details: June 3

http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/06/blogpost_13.html

49

Criminal detention

>1

June 19

Water and electricity supply of a house church in Foshan, Guangdong, cut off For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/06/blogpost_65.html

Cut off water supply and electricity

>300

Guangfu Church branch sealed off by government June 22

July 10

For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/07/officials-sealserially-persecuted.html

A house church’s Sunday service raided by police in Foshan, Guangdong; four church leaders sentenced to 10-days’ administrative detention For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/07/410.html

Sealed off and outlawed

>70

Invasion and administrative detention

>30

Evicted

>100

Lecture canceled

>1

Raided and summoned

>50

A house church in Jiangmen, Guangdong, evicted Aug. 8

Aug. 30

Sept. 27

For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/09/guangdong-housechurch-evicted-after.html

Professor Yang Fenggang’s Christian-related lecture cancelled in Guangzhou For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/08/blogpost_48.html

A house church in Guangdong’s Zhuhai raided; eight church members summoned for questioning

50

For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/10/house-churchmembers-questioned-forced.html Guangdong-based Drug Treatment Church’s pastor and wife taken into police custody Nov. 27

For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/12/christian-mentalhealth-advocates-held.html

Criminal detention

>180

Landlord forced to revoke lease

>80

House church evicted on Christmas Eve Dec. 16

For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/12/governmentharassment-pushes-landlord.html

7. Central China (Henan, Hubei and Hunan): 48 total persecution cases (last year: 36), more than 4,800 people persecuted (last year: more than 962), 149 detained (last year: 126), and 27 sentenced (last year: 15). Table 4-7: A partial list of persecution cases in central China in 2016

Date

April 14

June 12

Instance

Mode of Persecution

Number of People Persecuted

Buried alive

>200

Farmland appropriated

>20

Two Christians in Henan buried alive for defending church from demolition For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/04/churchleaders-wife-dead-after-buried.html Christian’s farmland forcibly seized by gangsters in Nanyang, Henan, to build a temple on it

51

For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/06/officialthreatens-to-skin-christian.html

50 house churches in Luoyang, Henan, forced to join TSPM, 15 shut down July 15

July 15

For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/08/5015.html

>3,250

Sealed

>20

Threatened with forcible demolition

>200

House church in Henan’s Tuocheng sealed off by religious affairs bureau For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/08/housechurch-rejects-orders-to-stop.html Newly-built church faces demolition because it “blocked the prosperity” of a village’s Party Secretary

July 27

Closed and forced to join the TSPM

For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/08/blogpost_57.html House church in Henan’s Zhengzhou outlawed by religious affairs bureau

Aug. 24 For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/08/blogpost_26.html

Two Christian churches in Henan persecuted Aug. 28 For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/09/blogpost_23.html

Outlawed

>500

Forced to join the TSPM

>100

Beatings and detentions

>20

Two members of a house church in Hotan, Xinjiang, seized by police; Christians in Nanle, Henan, beat and detained by police Sept. 25 For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/09/blogpost_36.html

52

Nov. 11

Pastor in Henan accused of cult activities and denied issuance of passport For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/11/officialsblacklist-pastor-as-cult.html

Denied passport

>1

Death

>10

Forced disappearance

>3

Forbidden to attend Christmas Eve activities

Unclear

Peng Ming murdered, organs harvested Dec. 5

Dec. 23

For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/12/body-ofhuman-rights-activist-dissected.html

Changsha Municipal Public Security Bureau confirms detention of human rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong who had disappeared for days For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/12/kidnappedattorney-confirmed-alive-held.html

Dec. 24

Christian college students’ Christmas celebration face crackdown by police For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/12/blogpost_21.html

8. Southwest China (Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou): 96 total persecution cases (last year: 83), more than 2,500 people persecuted (last year: more than 2,486), 517 detained (last year: 409), and 48 sentenced (last year: 35). Table 4-8: A partial list of persecution cases in southwest China in 2016

Date

Instance

Mode of Persecution

Number of People Persecuted

Fined

>500

Guiyang’s Huoshi Church fined 100,000 Yuan ($14,559 USD) in two weeks; pastors denied visits by lawyers Jan. 19 For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/01/blogpost_21.html 53

Huoshi Church denied administrative review; Yang Hua arrested for “leaking state secret” Jan. 22

Arrest

>500

Faced with prosecution

>300

Faced with trial

>2

Faced with trial

>600

Sunday school banned

>300

For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/01/guizhouofficials-formally-arrest-house.html Five members of Daguan Church in Guizhou handed back to the Procuratorate Jan. 25 For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/01/fivechristians-await-prosecution.html

The case of Zhang Xiuhong from Huoshi Church to be transferred to court Feb. 21 For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/03/housechurch-members-case-to-stand-trial.html

April 7

Three church members facing a pre-trial meeting on cult charges

June 12

The Sunday School of a church in Guizhou declared “an illegal gathering;” police urged Christians to turn themselves in

June 23

The local government in Huaqiu, Guizhou, issued a decree prohibiting minors from attending churches. Failure to comply could result in the child being barred from the college entrance exam or joining a military academy For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/07/officialsbar-christian-minors-from.html

July 2-4

Christians’ low-income insurance revoked in Tongzi, Guizhou For details: http://www.chinaaid.net/2016/07/36.html

MidAugust

Yang Hua’s wife stalked and harassed 54

Barring minors from attending church

>300

Denying Christians low-income insurance

>336

Physical harassment

>3

For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/08/wife-ofimprisoned-pastor-constantly.html A house church in Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan, banned from gathering by authorities Sept. 2 For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/09/churchpenalized-for-holding-services.html Huoshi Church’s bank accounts frozen; three Christians given a fine of 220,000 Yuan ($32,029 USD) Sept. 13 For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/09/churchpenalized-for-holding-services.html

Eight Christians criminally detained by police in Kunming for cult activities Nov. 27 For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2016/12/christiansdetained-for-cult-activities.html

Gatherings banned

>40

Bank accounts frozen and believers fined

>500

Criminally detained

>300

Sentenced

>3

Yang Hua sentenced to 2.5 years in prison Dec. 30

For details: http://www.chinaaid.org/2017/01/prominentpastor-sentenced-to-two-years.html

V.

Conclusion

“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 1:9 2016 marks the 50th anniversary of the Cultural Revolution. At that time, Mao’s wife, Jiang Qing, made the statement “We have sent religion to the history museum.” 50 years later, instead of reflecting on the devastating effects of that period, the current Communist regime adopted laws and policies that inverted progress and plunged mainland China into another era of despair. As the government’s core religious policy shifted from the mutual adaptation of socialism and religion to religion adhering to Sinicization, its rhetoric changed from“socialism” to “Sinicization dominated by the CCP.” Religious communities in China suffered the greatest impact from these alterations, especially Christians. 55

Although Christians endured various forms of harassment in 2016, the fundamental revisions to religious policy foreshadow more intense persecution. A harrowing winter has arrived; however, as the chilling seasons always yield to warmer climates, spring will someday spread across China. China Aid believes that God will protect and preserve Christians and churches because we believe that “The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever” (Psalm 29:10).

(END) Further distribution and posting welcome. If quoting from this report, please provide proper attribution. 56

Contact China Aid Texas office Office phone: (432) 689-6985 Media phone: (432) 553-1080 Media e-mail: [email protected] For non-media inquiries, please e-mail [email protected] Websites English: www.chinaaid.org Chinese: www.chinaaid.net

——China Aid Association, USA——

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