Reasons for Great Precaution Continue
Pastor Cai's Lawyer's Declared "Counter Revolutionaries"; Denied Visit with His Mother
Reliable sources tell us the Public Security Burea (PSB) has declared Pastor Cai’s defense lawyers “counter revolutionaries”. Meanwhile, Pastor Cai’s mother was denied the right to meet with her son last month. The director of the Detention Center where Pastor Cai and his wife are jailed told Cai’s mother that the PSB made that decision because her son’s case was posted on the internet.
Cai & Pregnant Wife Yunfei
Their son is now six years old, living
with his grandma, Cai's Mom
Cai's Mom
Cardinal Kung Foundation President’s Statement Regarding Intensified Persecution
Bishop Han Dingxiang, President of the Cardinal Kung Foundation recently stated:
Obviously, the intensified horror campaign by the Chinese government to force the underground Church’s religious and faithful to register with the official Patriotic Church is actively ongoing.
Father Wang, Arrested December 11 Still in Custody His Whereabouts Unknown
Father Wang, a priest in Hebei, was arrested December 11 by Chinese security officials after he finished offering Mass in a family’s private home. He has been kept in the detention center ever since.
Reliable sources say the Chinese government is attempting to brain-wash and force Father Wang to cooperate with the government in order to join the official communist- established TSPM. We have been informed that the government has not been successful in its attempt to convert Father Wang to their official Church.
Father Wang is one of the first group of priests ordained in his diocese approximately twenty years ago. Father Wang was arrested 13 years ago and detained for approximately 18 months.
Bishop Han Arrested Again Whereabouts Unknown
Meanwhile, Bishop Han Dingxiang of Yongnian has disappeared. He was arrested by the Chinese government more than six years ago (December 1999). He’d been kept in a government-run hostel somewhere in the diocese of Yongnian. Until recently, on occasion, people were able to get a glimpse of him at his window. No more, he has been transferred to an unknown location and there is no news of his whereabouts or his health. Bishop Han’s health had been poor.
House Churches in Beijing and Jilin Raided
House Church Leader's Gathering
Our sources learned that a campaign to clamp down on house churches in Beijing has intensified since Christmas. According to several eyewitness reports, on January 8 and 15, a well-known Beijing House Church was raided by Beijing Public Security Bureau (PSB) agents during their Sunday services. Two uniformed policemen and two plain-clothed agents rushed into the rented apartment where believers were having Sunday worship.
The congregation was told that the “religious gathering” was illegal because it is not registered with the government. Authorities quoted the new State Council Regulations on Religious Affairs.
One plain-clothed PSB agent started beating a member of the church when he noticed the PSB being video taped.
Beaten Believer
According to one of the founders of the church, their Sunday church service was raided last Sunday by 7 PSB agents. Twenty to thirty believers have been worshipping there for two years. The owner of the rented apartment where the church meets said he cannot let the church continue to worship there because “pressure (from the authorities) is already very heavy”.
Our sources have also informed us that Beijing Public Security Bureau (PSB) recently raided several other house churches in Beijing. One pastor of at least 9 house churches was detained and questioned at a local police station. Dozens of other leaders were also questioned.
Another house church pastor had been negotiating with the government to register his churches with the RAB (government authorities have been demanding this for decades), but the PSB denied the request because the house church pastor would not join the government-sanctioned/controlled Three-Self Patriotic Movement Church (TSPM).