Beijing openly Claims the Right to Choose Next Dalai Lama

From AsiaNews.it

Beijing has indicated that it will not negotiate the selection of a successor to the aging Dalai Lama with him, insisting that it has the final decision on the reincarnated successors to the Buddhist region's top lamas, this according to Padma Choling, governor of the Tibet Autonomous Region, who said there was no need now to discuss the issues related to the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. At present, the succession to the god-king of Tibet has become one of the region’s most sensitive issues. The current and 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is aging. His death could create a leadership vacuum in the Tibetan government-in-exile and among China’s Buddhists that worries both Dharamsala (seat of the government-in-exile) and Beijing.

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Visiting Evangelicals Silent on China's Persecuted House Churches

The Institute on Religion & Democracy (IRD) is dismayed at the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA)'s having ignored religious persecution in China during its recent visit. Instead, it spoke only of cooperation with the government-registered church while disregarding restrictions by the communist regime on unofficial churches. The vast majority of Chinese Christians, conservatively estimated at 80 million in number, worship in unregistered congregations that meet in homes and other settings.

In the past week alone, leaders of the Chinese House Church Alliance were detained by the authorities in Hebei province according to China Aid. House churches in both Beijing and Shanghai have also been closed recently by the police. In Shanxi province, authorities demolished the Fushan House Church's building, giving church leaders long prison sentences. In December, a Ugyhur Christian convert from Islam was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for his faith.

In response, IRD's Religious Liberty Program will launch Ten Thursdays of Prayer for China's Church beginning on January 21 in Religious Liberty Program director Faith McDonnell's e-newsletter, Faith on Freedom and on the IRD website. Each Thursday will have a special focus with information from China Aid. McDonnell is asking for aggressive intercessory prayer on behalf of the Church in China.

IRD Religious Liberty Program Director Faith J.H. McDonnell commented:

"We are glad that the WEA was able to minister to and encourage China's officially registered church. But we cannot do service to one part of the Body of Christ at the cost of doing disservice to another.

"One would not be able to discern the presence of any other church in China from the WEA's report. We find it staggering that there was no acknowledgment of the 80 million or more Chinese house church Christians or what they face from the Chinese government.

"Acknowledgment of the Chinese house churches, and of those who are in prison for their faith, is our duty as fellow Christians.

"We see the inability of good intentions and legislation to stop the persecution of Christians around the world. We see what appears to be a juggernaut of policies and politics crushing freedom and democracy. But have we seen the power of God released in these circumstances by faithful and constant prayer? We must get serious about praying for the persecuted church."

Help Free Gao Zhisheng

From Voice of the Martyrs

Christian human rights attorney Gao Zhisheng, disappeared February 4, and was last seen being taken away by a dozen police officers. Gao Zhisheng has been repeatedly kidnapped, arrested, imprisoned and tortured by Chinese authorities, because he has defended the persecuted and has been an unyielding voice for justice in the Chinese courts.

Read Gao's account of 50 days of torture in 2007.

Read Gao Zhisheng's letter to the U.S. Congress in 2007.

Read Geng He's open letter to the U.S. Congress.

Read Senator Dorgan's speech from the Senate floor.

ChinaAid together with Mr. Gao's wife and children are deeply concerned about Mr. Gao, and reports from inside China indicate he is experiencing severe torture.

Please sign the petition on the page that The Voice of the Martyrs has dedicated to this brave Christian man.

Christian College Students Arrested at Underground Churches

From OneNewsNow
By Allie Martin

Persecution against Christians continues to increase in China, this time focusing on college-age students.

China Aid Association (CAA) has learned that from the end of September through early November, large numbers of police were dispatched to raid house church gatherings in Beijing and in areas near college campuses in Hangzhou. More than 400 Christian college students were arrested and interrogated.

Four house church leaders were sentenced to "re-education" through labor for one to one-and-a-half years. Katherine Cason, a spokesperson for CAA, says most of the crackdowns targeted future leaders of the underground church, who were also college students.

"The students came from 14 different universities, and so the school officials were called and then the students were actually questioned by their respective university officials, forced to write statements...guaranteeing they would not meet for religious events again" she explains. "And all of these students were of adult age; they were all over 18, [the age at] which, according to Chinese law, they're allowed to choose what religion they'd like to follow."

Cason, among other Christians, believes the large-scale persecution is part of the government's efforts to limit citizens' religious freedoms after the 2008 Olympic Games, which concluded in late August.

China: Restrictions Placed On 'Underground' Priests As Olympics Loom

BEIJING (UCAN) -- "Underground" Church clergy who work near Beijing have faced restrictions on their work in the run-up to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Near the capital, quite a number of bishops and priests not affiliated with the government-sanctioned "open" Church have been forbidden to administer sacraments or do pastoral work since late July, Church sources say.

The Summer Olympics and the Paralympic Games will take place Aug. 8-24 and Sept. 6-17, respectively.

In Beijing, an underground layperson told UCA News in early August that most underground priests who had been working in the capital have returned to their hometowns until the Olympics end.

He observed that as the date of the event neared, the Beijing government started imposing strict controls on people from other provinces entering the municipality. Officials tightened security checks in residential areas as well as at subway stations and other means public transportation centers.

While underground priests are out of town, he said, they agreed to have their parishioners attend Masses led by open-Church priests in Beijing, since Bishop Joseph Li Shan of Beijing has papal approval.

In Tianjin municipality and Hebei province, which surround Beijing, Church sources told UCA News underground bishops have been put under house arrest and strict surveillance, and are forbidden to contact their priests.

They also said government officials told underground priests in these areas that clergy without permits from the Catholic Patriotic Association (CPA) are forbidden to celebrate Mass or administer any sacraments, including anointing the sick.

Some priests said they were warned not to leave their hometowns, while Catholic villagers said they were warned not to receive underground priests who usually stay at the laypeople's homes. Anyone violating the orders would be fined heavily, they added.

In Wuqiu village of Jinxian county, Hebei, where underground Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo of Zhengding resides, a small house was built in April in front of the cathedral for public security officers to guard the bishop around-the-clock, Church sources told UCA News in early August. Previously, these officers had rented a residential house nearby to monitor the prelate.

Sources reported four officers now take eight-hour shifts and enter the bishop's residence in the cathedral compound every two hours to check on 73-year-old Bishop Jia, who is on medication. Despite laypeople living outside Wuqiu being warned not to visit the cathedral, the prelate still insists on celebrating Mass there every day, the sources said.

They noted that with the Aug. 15 feast of the Assumption, a key Church festival on the mainland, falling during the Olympic Games, Catholic communities are monitoring the security situation and will decide whether or not to gather to celebrate the feast.

In eastern China, underground priests in Anhui and Shandong provinces face similar restrictions, UCA News learned.

In northeastern China, Bishop Joseph Wei Jingyi of Qiqihar told UCA News on Aug. 5 that government officials recently phoned him and asked if he will be traveling or hold any religious gatherings during the coming days.

"I know they don't want us to organize any activities during the Olympics," the 50-year-old prelate said. He revealed that he told the officials he "won't go anywhere, but will support the Olympics at home, in front of the television." His diocese in Heilongjiang province has not held any special Mass for the Olympics, but Catholics will pray for the success of the event at Sunday Masses, he said.

He added that he learned some underground priests who serve Catholics in Beijing and its surrounding areas have returned home or decided to vacation in northeastern China, where the weather is cooler, to avoid problems and inconveniences. Laypeople will be safe as long as they pray at home and do not join religious gatherings, he added.

In Inner Mongolia, an underground priest told UCA News on Aug. 2 that local priests have canceled catechism classes for young people and pilgrimages this summer to avoid trouble. Priests now spend their time visiting laypeople living in remote villages and playing sports to keep fit and deepen their fraternity, he revealed.

In southeastern China, Church sources told UCA News that local officials have not imposed restrictions or given warnings to the underground communities in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, but priests there are conscious of not organizing large-scale activities during this sensitive time.

Crackdown on Chinese Christians Launched at Two Month Olympic Countdown Mark

From Christian Solidarity Worldwide

With two months to go until the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, a fresh report detailing the persecution of Christians in China is launched today.

The report, ‘China: Persecution of Protestant Christians in the Approach to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games’, highlights the current government crackdown on China’s unregistered Christians.

Also covered in the report is the disturbing news that Christians have been arrested and fined for seeking to help the victims of the tragic earthquake in Sichuan Province.

As the Olympics draw closer, sources have recently reported that the Ministry of Public Security has received funding from the Chinese Central Government to increase its campaign of eradicating house churches throughout China. Among the tactics used to restrict religious believers is the targeting of multiple well-established churches in Beijing last month, directives to landlords to refrain from renting to those engaging in religious activities and controls to prevent those engaged in ‘illegal’ religious activities from participating in or attending the Games.

Alongside these specific measures, the report highlights the disturbing trend of increasing persecution of China’s unregistered Christians in the run up to the Olympics, including the use of separatism charges against Christians in Xinjiang, a level of expulsion of foreign Christians not seen since the 1950s, the largest mass sentencing of house church leaders in 25 years and targeted repression of the Chinese House Church Alliance.

The report is produced by Christian Solidarity Worldwide in association with China Aid Association (CAA), an organisation at the forefront of documenting religious persecution against China’s Christians. The President of CAA, Bob Fu, will be in London speaking on Wednesday 11 June at the Foreign Press Association, where he will show footage of firsthand testimony from persecuted Chinese Christians. Joining Bob Fu will be Chun Ki Won, an activist who has been imprisoned in China for helping North Korean refugees, who was involved in the escapes covered in the BBC documentary broadcast last week, Korea: Out of the North. Excerpts of the footage will also be shown. CSW’s National Director Stuart Windsor will also speak, providing a brief overview of China’s domestic and international human rights violations.

Mervyn Thomas, Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s Chief Executive, said: “As we mark the two month countdown to the Beijing Olympics today it is truly disturbing to report the deteriorating picture for China’s unregistered Christians. As China takes her place in the spotlight for the Olympic Games it is important to highlight that she must play by international rules, including her binding international obligations on human rights.”

The report is available at: http://www.csw.org.uk/indepth/chinareportjune2008.htm.

Mass Sentencing of Chinese House Church Leaders

Twenty-one prominent Christian leaders have been sentenced to re-education through labour in what China Aid Association (CAA) describes as the largest mass sentencing of house church leaders in China in 25 years.

The Linyi City Re-education through Labour Commission in Shandong Province simultaneously sentenced 17 male and 4 female church leaders to re-education through labour for fifteen months to three years, according to news released yesterday by CAA.

The 21 were detained during a mass arrest of 270 Christian leaders on 7 December 2007 in Hedeng District, Linyi City as they gathered for leadership training. The others detained with them were fined and released in the intervening period. The leaders were accused of holding an “illegal religious gathering” and the 21 labelled as members of an “evil cult”, a term which Chinese authorities arbitrarily apply to unregistered religious groups.

The news of the mass sentencing comes just a day after CAA published an open letter to the international community from the President of the Chinese House Church Alliance, Pastor Zhang Mingxuan. In the letter, Pastor Zhang describes the persecution he has faced as a Christian leader, including being incarcerated on twelve occasions. He also describes how the Public Security Bureau have harassed an orphanage he ran with his two sons and forced it to close.

Pastor Zhang expresses support for the Beijing Olympics, but hopes that the attention on China around the Games will encourage the Chinese Government to allow real freedom of religion and to release Christians imprisoned as a result of their faith.

The mass sentencing and Pastor Zhang’s letter follow a significant increase in persecution against the house churches in China last year and a level of expulsion of foreign Christians not seen since the 1950s, according to CAA’s annual report. CAA also report that four Christians were detained for five days at the end of January for handing out Christian tracts in Zhejiang province. Additionally, two female House Church Alliance leaders were taken into custody on Monday, 18 February 2008, on their way to Beijing. Their whereabouts is currently unknown. CAA believes this activity is designed to dismantle the House Church Alliance before the Olympic Games start.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s Chief Executive, Mervyn Thomas, says: “It is shocking that China would commit such a grave and large scale violation of religious freedom as the eyes of the world are focused on the nation. At a time when Beijing is hosting a sporting event which is based on ‘universal fundamental ethical principles’, the crackdown on China’s peaceful Christian house churches must not go unnoticed. We join Pastor Zhang in his desire for China to release the many Christians detained as a result of their faith and we urge the international community to respond to the serious breaches of international standards committed against religious believers in China.”