ICC Note:
The pastor of a state-run megachurch has been arrested in China. Gu “Joseph” Yuese is the highest profile pastor to be arrested since the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 70s. Gu was arrested for embezzling funds. On January 18th, government agencies removed him from office under claims that his removal would help them to manage the state-run church better. Then on January 18th Gu disappeared into what is known as black jail, which is officially called “residential surveillance in a designated location.” He is charged with embezzling 1.6 million USD.
1/12/2017 China (China Aid) – In the most high-profile religious persecution case since the Cultural Revolution, the former pastor of China’s largest state-run megachurch was formally arrested on Saturday by a local public security bureau in China’s coastal Zhejiang province.
According to informed sources, authorities re-apprehended Gu “Joseph” Yuese sometime before Christmas. On Jan. 7, his family received a notice announcing that he had been arrested on charges of embezzling funds.
A Christian also said there was a possibility the government could try to sue Gu.
As the former chairman of the Hangzhou Municipal China Christian Council, a local branch of the China Christian Council (CCC), which, along with the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM), comprises China’s two government-run Christian organizations, Gu is the highest-profile Christian official to be targeted since the Cultural Revolution. He also was a Member of the Standing Committee of the national China Christian Council before being removed from both of these positions.
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