ICC Note: Zhang Shanshan, the younger daughter of Pastor Zhang Shaojie, disappeared along with two other Christians after leaving their homes on Saturday and have not been seen since. Authorities in Nanle County, Henan Province, detained nearly two dozen Christians a month ago in a raid on an official government sanctioned “Three-Self” church. The pastor and several of the church leaders remain imprisoned despite protests by church members and attempts by human rights lawyers to assist in the case. Zhang Shanshan’s family believer she may have been abducted by the authorities.
12/23/2013 China (ChinaAid) – ChinaAid has learned more information about events that occurred at the Nanle County Christian Church in China’s central Henan province on Sunday, where, despite a previous report of detainment, the pastor’s daughter is believed to have been abducted and believers were blocked from entering the church by a number, now estimated to be more than 200, of government agents.
ChinaAid reported yesterday that a daughter of Pastor Zhang Shaojie, who has been detained since Nov. 16, was detained when she tried to enter the church for worship. However, ChinaAid has since learned that Zhang “Shanshan” Linxin, Zhang Shaojie’s younger daughter, left the family’s home, along with two other believers, Ren Tiantang and Fan Ruimin, around 3 p.m on Saturday. The three haven’t been seen since.
Zhang Shaojie’s elderly mother said she believes that her granddaughter and the two Christians are under someone’s control. “We have gone to the police station and the Public Security Bureau to look for them. She went out in a vehicle with Tiantang and Ruimin,” the woman said. “Now, we can’t find either the people or the vehicle.”
“When adults disappear, there’s no use calling the police,” the police told the elderly woman.
“She [Zhang Shanshan] called me yesterday afternoon at 3 [p.m.],” Wang Fengrui, wife of Zhang Shaojie and mother of the Zhang Shanshan, said. “Yesterday, the people from the Religious Affairs Bureau had a talk with lawyer Xia [Jun], and Ren Tiantang was videotaping,” Wang told ChinaAid as to why Fan and Ren, who are from Beijing, were in Nanle county.
Later that evening, unidentified persons broke into the Zhang home and pushed the pastor’s wife and mother to the floor while another believer, Cai Ren, was visiting. “Yesterday, a sister of ours came to see me. After less than an hour, between 6 [p.m.] and 7 [p.m.], over thirty people came in an pushed me onto the floor, and they also pushed my mother[-in-law] onto the floor,” Wang told ChinaAid.
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