Persecution of House Church leaves two Dead and two Imprisoned in China
ICC NOTE: One aspect of the massive sweep of persecution led by the Chinese government which goes unnoticed are the effects of those related to the incarcerated. In one such story provided by China Aid, a Christian woman spent one month in a criminal detention facility for attending a Beijing based house church. During such time her mentally ill brother died because there was no one present to tend to his needs. Persecution does not merely cause hardship upon those directly persecuted, but their loved ones and friends. It is a broad stroke at times and in certain cases such as this result in deaths that could have been avoided.
04/11/2016 Beijing, China (China Aid) – A Christian woman disclosed the abuses she and her family members suffered in 2014 for their participation in a serially targeted house church in Beijing.
Authorities sentenced Wang Chunyan to a month in criminal detention for “illegally gathering.” During her incarceration, her brother, who suffered from a mental illness, died from a lack of care, leaving behind a young daughter.
On Oct. 21, 2014, Wang applied to the Tongzhou Sub-bureau of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau for approximately 1,403,000 Yuan (U.S. $217,000.00) in compensation for her detention. The Compensation Committee of the Beijing Municipal Second Intermediate People’s Court denied her request on Dec. 1, 2014, stating, “Wang Chunyan herself admitted to participating in a house church” and that “because Wang Chunyan was suspected of committing a crime, she was therefore criminally detained according to the law.”
Similarly, officials injured and sentenced her sister to one year in prison for involvement in Holy Love Fellowship. According to Wang, her mother also died as a result of government persecution.
China Aid exposes abuses, such as those experienced by the Wang family, in order to promote religious freedom and rule of law in China.