“Of course, they try to use this way for accusing them as an illegal border crossing. I mean, they’re afraid to cite their so-called crime is attending a Bible study conference, or a worship meeting, or kind of a praise and worship conference,” Fu says. “The Communist Party chose to use this legal term to prosecute many of those pastors.”

Stepping Up the Arrests

This method of punishing Christians is not new. In 2021, the government imprisoned a pastor from Shanxi Province for five years because he attended an overseas Bible study conference. More well-known is the case of Pastor John Cao, who served a seven-year sentence for “organizing illegal border crossings.” This charge was doled out because he organized Chinese Christians to help school Burmese minority children across the border. They were using the Bible as a textbook.

(Photo courtesy of El Jusuf on Pexels)

Fu continues, “In recent weeks, we have seen more cases. Like five pastors in Shanxi Province also received a criminal sentence for going to Malaysia – in Kuala Lumpur – attending a Bible conference by a preacher [nicknamed] China’s Billy Graham: Pastor Dr. Stephen Tong from Indonesia. Also, in recent weeks, we have learned another four Christians were criminally arrested for going to South Korea and Malaysia, attending Christian conferences. So, they are going to be tried and sentenced to criminal imprisonment. So, this is a new trend, showing the Chinese Communist Party trying to cut off the Universal Church, the fellowship of the church.”

A National Security Threat?

This sends a chilling message to believers. Ramping up persecution for Christian fellowship across borders means Christians will need to take even greater care when deciding what events to attend. Soon, Christians may not even get to travel outside the country.

In some areas, the government has already implemented a new measure called the National Security Filter. One of the items on the assessment for this filter is whether or not a person is a Christian. Chinese Christians and especially Christian leaders would be treated as national security threats.

“You would be forbidden to travel,” Fu states. “You would be banned from obtaining a new passport or renew your old passport.”

Connected in Christ

However, despite the grim outlook for Chinese Christians’ physical presence with the global Church, Fu says there is hope.

“They will never succeed. Maybe physically, geographically, they try their way, but the Holy Spirit is our real connector, right? They can never cut off the Holy Spirit. Through the prayer of the meetings of the saints the body of Christ in China will not feel alone.”

Please pray that God would strengthen Chinese Christians as their physical isolation from the Church increases. Pray for steadfastness for those facing imprisonment. Pray for VOM Canada as they share stories and support Chinese Christians. Learn more here.

Header Photo courtesy of muffaddal qutbuddin on Pexels

Bob Fu, a partner with The Voice of the Martyrs Canada, says, “I think if China started an invasion and occupied Taiwan, the first civilian target would be the Taiwan Presbyterian Church. Because even on the Chinese Communist Party’s public reports, the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan is being already accused of being involved with the Taiwan separatist movement.”

“They provide lots of leadership and intellect to independent leadership in the Taiwan Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).”

The Taiwan Presbyterian Church is the largest denomination in Taiwan, with 1,100 churches.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong might provide a pattern for what churches in Taiwan would face.

Chinese officials recently put a 90-year-old Catholic cardinal on trial. He set up a fund to support pro-democracy protestors.

Many evangelical churches have gone underground. Fu says, “And some were treated even worse, like some Hong Kong Baptist churches. Their bank accounts were frozen just because they were found harboring or providing a shelter for students in Hong Kong, peaceful protesters.”

How to pray

Ask God to fill churches in Hong Kong with strength and peace. Some want to stay and establish underground churches, while others have chosen to leave. Many fled to Taiwan, while others have made their way to Australia, England, or even Canada.

Fu says, “The church, I think, is still very strong. But the Communist Party, I hear, is already considering a Hong Kong Three-Self Patriotic Movement church. One day, there will be an announcement with some puppet church leaders coming to the media and declaring their loyalty to the Communist Party.”

The header photo shows Cardinal Joseph Zen in Hong Kong. (Photo courtesy of Alfredoko, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

On August 14, police raided a branch of Zion Church, the largest house church in Beijing. They confiscated several computers. On September 7, officials banned the House of Light Church in Jilin province. And authorities liquidated a 30-year-old house church in Xi’an.

Bob Fu, a partner with The Voice of the Martyrs Canada, says, “Pastors were being taken away and arrested. Some were indicted, with very serious (of course trumped-up) charges like aiding illegal religious organizations, or like business fraud.”

“This is a new charge, because the church had an offering box.”

In December 2021, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for action against illegal religious groups in the country.

Legal challenges

Fu says many churches are having a hard time even finding a lawyer to fight these charges. “Hundreds of Chinese human rights lawyers who traditionally take a stand have now been disbarred. Pretty much all of them are disbarred. I mean, the lawyers’ lawyers are disbarred.”

But some Chinese officials still worry about how these raids look to an international audience. After a pastor was recently arrested, Fu tweeted about it to let people know.

Quickly, the pastor was released. Shortly afterward, Fu received a message from the police involved. “The message said something like, “Oh, we did a good thing by releasing him. Now could you do us a favor and not put our shame on your Twitter message?’”

Ask God to strengthen Chinese Christians.

The header photo shows a street in Xi’an, China. (Photo courtesy of Acstar, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

“Every week, [a] private Christian school based in Dallas [has] been teaching the children virtually, and they are collecting support financially. China Aid [is] leading the diplomatic effort to try to find a solution for the U.S. government to resettle them,” China Aid’s Bob Fu says.

“We call them the modern-day Mayflower church.”

A coalition of ministries, including China Aid and Voice of the Martyrs Canada, is working tirelessly to secure freedom for the Mayflower church. Want to help? Add your name to a petition seeking U.S. resettlement for this group of persecuted believers.

“This church is regarded as a church plant by the PCA: Presbyterian Church in America. Pastor Pan was ordained by the Philadelphia-based Presbyterian Church in America,” Fu says.

“We hope the Lord will grant them their freedom to move to the United States.”

The Mayflower church, a group of 60 persecuted Christians from China, fled to South Korean territory in late 2019. More about that here. South Korea is denying believers’ requests for asylum, raising fears that the group will be forcibly returned to China.

“They were called traitors. This is the highest political crime, worse than the subversion of state power,” Fu says.

“The Communist Party will mercilessly persecute them.”

Ask the Lord to comfort members of the Mayflower church and give them peace as they await decisions beyond their control. Pray for wisdom for each organization and individual advocating on their behalf.

In 1620, the Mayflower carried dozens of Protestant Christians fleeing religious persecution in England to the American colonies.  The header image displays a replica ship, Mayflower II, at the State Pier in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 2006. (Wikimedia Commons)

China Aid is an international human rights organization that seeks to expose the human rights violations of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and promoting religious freedom in the country.

Who is threatening?

The source of these threats? China Aid is pointing the finger at Guo Wengui, a disgraced Chinese businessman who fled to the United States after being accused by Chinese authorities of bribery, fraud, and money laundering. He now runs popular social media platforms,on which he encourages violence against those who speak out against the CCP.

Fu frequently criticizes the CCP, especially their persecution of different religious and ethnic groups.

(Photo courtesy of FB/ China Aid/Bob Fu)

Protestors appeared outside Fu’s home in Texas earlier in October, accusing him of being a spy for the CCP. But officials believe Bob Fu may actually be targeted by the Communist Party itself.

Greg Musselman of Voice of the Martyrs Canada summarizes. “It’s really hard to know exactly who is behind this. But what we do know is that Bob and his family have been under threat and that’s being taken very seriously.”

The purpose behind the threats

The purpose of this campaign is clearer: discredit Fu and stop the work he is doing. Musselman says protestors have been “handing out flyers saying that he’s a fake pastor, [that] he’s an evil cheater. There were even protest signs declaring that he is a Chinese spy.”

Fu has had a lot of influence over the years, Musselman says. “Bob has been in the White House, he’s had many members of the Senate, Congress, even mayors. He is well respected. And what he says is taken with a lot of seriousness.”

Whoever is behind the threats, they want Fu’s influence to stop.

How to pray

Musselman says Fu won’t be silenced by these death threats or protests. “He was arrested for starting an underground church in China. He was involved in Tiananmen Square before he came to the United States.”

Pray that God will protect Bob Fu and his family during this stressful time. Pray that whoever is behind these protests would lose their power and influence.

And pray for your brothers and sisters in China, that they would have grace and strength from the Lord in the face of persecution.

The header image shows Bob Fu. (Photo courtesy of VOM Canada on Facebook)

Chen Guangcheng is known for speaking out against forced abortions and China's one-child policy. His escape from house arrest last year brought shame to the Chinese government. Since then, they've been instigating violence against his family.

According to a report from China Aid Association, the home of Guangcheng's eldest brother has come under multiple attacks. Early last week, government-hired thugs drove up to the home and started throwing beer bottles and bricks at it.

Chen Kegui, one of Guangcheng's nephews, is currently in jail suffering from appendicitis, and authorities haven't offered him surgery. Reportedly, U.S. Secretary of Defense John Kerry plans to raise the case with senior Chinese officials.

China Aid is also helping Guangcheng get justice. They've helped the activist since his escape from China, with ChinaAid founder and president Bob Fu acting as an informal liaison between Guangcheng and the U.S. government.

Now, ChinaAid is calling people to act as a proxy for Guangcheng's family. Click here to find out how you can help.

Although Chen Guangcheng is not a Christ-follower, underground church leaders told the Wall Street Journal his case has become an anemometer. They're watching the development of Guangcheng's case to see how far China's Communist government will go to punish those it views as a threat.

Pray that no matter what happens, the Gospel will keep going forward in China. Pray that the faith of Chinese believers remains strong.

By clicking here, you can write to or call the governments that are persecuting Christians in China.

According to the resolution, “On 2 June 2012 a seven-months-pregnant woman, Feng Jianmei, was abducted and underwent a forced abortion in Zhenping county (Shanxi [sic] province), sparking a wave of indignation and condemnation in China and around the world…”

Bob Fu, President of ChinaAid Association, says this is the first time the European Parliament has passed a resolution like this, but it’s a huge milestone. “Because the European Union is a huge countries block, it really has support of the international affairs…. It is really important for this voice to be heard. It sends a much stronger signal to the Chinese government that the whole world is now united against this brutal practice of one-child policy, forced abortion, and forced sterilization.”

Fu goes on to say, “I think it will also encourage more Chinese victims to come up to tell their stories, and it will put pressure at least temporarily [on] the local family planning officials to be more careful when they try to do these kind of forced abortion, forced sterilization cases.”

The resolution urges the European Union to discuss the violation of human rights in these forced abortion cases with China in the next round of bilateral human rights dialogue.

However, the resolution didn’t cover everything. According to Fu, “It fell short in the sense [of] condemning the whole China family planning system. In the resolution, it still contends the language….It does not really condemn China’s brutal family planning system of the one-child policy.”

Feng Jainmei and her husband are Christians, and Fu says their family continues to suffer persecution. Their case only begins to scratch the surface of what China and the church there has been facing for over thirty years since the one-child policy was enacted.

Fu shares, “I have received lots of reports from churches in the past. One pastor told me his wife was dragged to the hospital by the family planning officials and, with a poison drug injection into their eight-month-pregnant baby, killed their son. So I was on the phone when that was happening with that pastor in the hospital.”

The Chinese government has prevented the birth of 400 million children since the one-child policy started 30 years ago. With 5.7 million Jews killed in the World War II Holocaust, that is equivalent to losing the population from the Holocaust 70 times over.

Fu says the Chinese church has mostly kept silent, until now. “The churches are now having a wake-up call…. Because of the enormous suppression and the enormous propaganda by the Chinese government, most of the people chose to be silent, because if you dare to speak up, you will face lots of retributions: you will lose your job, lose your property, lose everything. And not only the husband and wife involved, but also family members, the grandparents, your neighbors, all will be part of the calamity if you are found in violation of the one-child policy.”

“Chinese women have the highest suicide rate in the whole world, partially–even according to the Chinese government scholars–because of this traumatic experience of forced abortion,” states Fu. “They need the Gospel of Christ to really bring healing and to comfort their hearts, knowing the Lord has remembered her and her baby. Otherwise, there’s going to be more disaster.”

The Gospel is desperately needed. “This is a matter of life and death, and especially the value of life [is] deeply rooted from the perspective of the Gospel,” states Fu. “There’s no other way to explain why a baby’s life is so precious in his or her mother’s womb except to recognize the image of God, the ‘imago Dei.’ Every human being bears that image, and that is directly from Scripture.”

Fu poses the echoing question, “If the church does not stand up for life, who will? And if the church refuses to speak up and refuses to fight for life, who will?”

Click here to learn more and how you can take action at ChindAid’s Web site.

ChinaAid, a
partner of The Voice of the Martyrs USA, learned January 1 that Gao is being held
at Shaya Prison in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, western China. The notification was signed and dated on Dec.
19 by the prison.

According to
ChinaAid, police took Gao into custody again on April 2010, the most recent
arrest since a 2006 conviction on a subversion charge.

Then, on
December 16, shortly before his five-year probation period was to have ended, the
Chinese government sentenced him to three more years for violating his
probation. The good news was that Gao was still alive, but the bad news was they still didn't know where
he was or if he was healthy.   

Gao is best
known for defending cases of religious persecution, including house church
leaders and members of Falun Gong.

ChinaAid
founder and president Bob Fu says of his friend, "Gao's internal exile
reminds the world of how former Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov was cruelly treated
in Siberia in the 1980s."

Fu goes on to
say that "the Chinese government can use this remote jail to prevent
concerned people from visiting Attorney Gao, but just like Sakharov, Gao's
courageous voice can never be silenced by the four walls of his prison
cell."

Fu said human rights and religious freedom in China have deteriorated to its lowest point since the period after the crackdown on the 1989 Tiananmen Square student-led pro-democracy demonstration.

Fu and several other ChinaAid witnesses were invited by the European Parliament to testify at its hearing on "the human rights situation in China" at the parliament building in Brussels, Belgium.

The next day, the delegation will be in The Netherlands to participate in a human rights forum on "the situation of Christians in China," where Fu will be making a similar presentation on the serious deterioration of religious freedom, the rule of law and human rights in general.

At the EU hearing, ChinaAid will deliver recommendations that were requested to help the European Union set its China policy and address human rights problems in China. In attendance at the hearing will be members of the European Parliament and their assistants.

This is the second time that ChinaAid and Fu have appeared before the European Parliament. In 2009, Fu and two Christian lawyers engaged in rights defense work also testified before the same body.
Fu expressed appreciation to the European Parliament for the opportunity to testify.

"The grave human rights violations by the Chinese government [are] a global issue," said Fu. "We urge the European leaders to take more concrete steps to encourage the Chinese government to improve its record by building an international coalition founded on an unwavering solidarity with the Chinese rights defenders community."

In Ridderkerk, The Netherlands, the ChinaAid delegation will be speaking to an audience of mainly NGOS, representatives of the missionary organizations of several churches, some individuals with ties to China and members of the Dutch Political Reformed Party (SGP), Holland's most orthodox Protestant party, as well as members of the Dutch media.

“Some were even beat up,” said Bob Fu, president and founder of China Aid Association. “Some were kidnapped; more were harassed, including two attorneys who traveled to Guangxi province in May. They were even handcuffed when they were meeting their clients, and they were held in a police station.”

Three of the attorneys have called China Aid and requested support from the international community. This is a step they don’t normally take, Fu explained.

“They usually tried every way to walk a fine line within the framework of the Chinese law, but this time after many of their colleagues were beaten and lost their license, they said the Chinese government already broke the bottom line by forcing them to fight to survive to earn a living,” he said.

Many of these attorneys have been working with China Aid to protect religious freedom in China.

“These human rights lawyers
actually should be rewarded for their brave, active efforts in promoting the rule of law and advancing citizens’ civil and human rights, according to both the international standard and China’s own constitution,” Fu said. “And it’s really ironic to see that the rights of the rights attorneys are now in jeopardy.”

One of the lawyers, Gao Zhisheng, predicted that human rights attorneys would become human rights cases themselves. Chinese officials kidnapped him on February 4, and no one has seen him since.  On May 18, Zhou Wenzhong, China’s ambassador to the U.S., released a letter concerning Gao in response to a March letter from U.S. senator Brian Dorgan and U.S. congressman Sander Levin, chairman and co-chairmen of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China.

“Gao received a three-year sentence, with five years probation, and one year deprivation of political rights on December 26, 2006 for violation of the Criminal Law,” stated the key paragraph of Zhou’s letter. “He is currently serving probation. The public security authority has not taken any mandatory measure against him.”

The ambassador’s letter was the first official letter the Chinese government has released since Gao’s disappearance February 4.  Unfortunately, the letter did not take any responsibility for his well-being or for his circumstances.

“This is very misleading,” Fu said. “It is a blatant attempt to cover up the truth of Mr. Gao’s kidnapping and a refusal to release his current whereabouts or conditions. So if Mr. Gao is currently on probation, we’re asking, where is he now? And if he’s not under any mandatory measure against him, what’s the condition of Mr. Gao in his current si tuation?”

The claim that the PSB “has not taken any mandatory measure against” Gao is ridiculous, Fu said. Many eyewitnesses from Gao’s family and hometown saw him kidnapped. He urged Christians to sign a petition in support of Gao at www.freegao.com. Over 93,800 people have
already signed the petition, and 350,000 e-mails have been sent to the Chinese government.

“God is still in control and, He is sovereign. And despite of all the non-stop persecution in the past 60-some years under the Communist rule, the
Christian faith has never been stronger, and the revival has never been stronger in China,” Fu said.

China’s government may try to make it look like it doesn’t persecute Christians, Fu said, but the persecution is actually getting worse.

“The situation of the human rights in China has been deteriorating rapidly,” he explained. “It is a very difficult situation, despite the
Chinese government claims that Chinese citizens are enjoying golden time in religious freedom. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, who are still in the Chinese labor camps and prisons for their faith in Jesus.”

Fu encouraged Christians to support the church in China. “We really call upon the international community, the Christian community, as well as the Western democracy governments to step up their pressure and pray for those brave Christian attorneys and human rights lawyers to help secure their release,” he said. “And we call upon the Chinese government to [execute] their spirit of the rule of law by restoring the license of these human rights attorneys, and end their harassment and abuse.”