China: Christian Pastor Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison

The following is an unedited press release from International Christian Concern (ICC). My comments follow immediately below the press release. Please check out the ICC website at www.persecution.org for more on the persecution and genocide of Christians around the world. 

Pastor Wang Yi Sentenced Following Secret Trial

12/30/2019 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) – International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that Pastor Wang Yi from Early Rain Covenant Church (ERCC) in Sichuan was sentenced to nine years in prison for “subversion of state power” and “illegal business operations.”

Based on the statement posted on the website of the Chengdu court in Sichuan, Pastor Wang has also been deprived of his political rights for three years and 50,000 yuan ($7,160 USD) of his personal property was confiscated.

According to China Aid, Pastor Wang was secretly tried on December 26, his wife Jiang Rong’s birthday, at the Chengdu Intermediate Court.

“A large amount of plainclothes officials were stationed near the court, according to one witness who was detained and later released. Only government appointed lawyers were at the trial,” the persecution watchdog stated. “No members of Pastor Wang’s family or members of Early Rain Covenant Church were invited to the proceedings.”

Wang’s wife has been placed under house arrest along with her 12-year-old son, with no access to the outside world. She was also detained for several months until she was released on bail last June.
Wang’s lawyer, Zhang Peihong, who has been prevented from representing him, commented on Facebook today, “Woe to you, for you see evil as kindness and see kindness as evil. You are not sending a criminal to prison, [instead], you are crowning a righteous man.”

A church leader who is a friend of Pastor Wang told ICC, “The reason why the authorities picked nine years for his imprisonment is so that when he comes out, he will lose influence. The government wants to use him as a scapegoat to warn other house church pastors not to do the same like him.”
Pastor Wang is the last person from ERCC who was sentenced, after elder Qin Derfu was sentenced to four years in prison for “illegal business” on November 29. Given the lack of rule of law in China, it is unlikely that Pastor Wang’s sentence will be overturned.

He was detained last December along with his wife and more than 100 other ERCC members, many of whom have since been released on bail, but still placed under surveillance.

Gina Goh, ICC’s Regional Manager for Southeast Asia, said, “The sentence of Pastor Wang Yi further proves that the Chinese government disregards religious freedom and is paranoid about Christians from house churches. The unfounded accusations against Pastor Wang Yi and the inhumane treatment of his wife and son are pure evil. The international community must rally behind Pastor Wang and condemn China for its ongoing persecution against Christians.”
 

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Timothy's Comments: China, which remains under strict communist control despite opening up to capitalism in recent decades,  has a population of approximately 1.4 billion people. The Communist Party in China, which is officially atheist, has approximately 70 million members. However, the strong growth of Christianity in China has resulted in slightly over 100 million Chinese Christians - approximately 75 million Evangelicals and 27 million Catholics. Also, the Chinese Orthodox Church, an autonomous Eastern Orthodox church, has about 15,000 members.  

This situation of Christians outnumbering official Communist Party members is at least partially behind government crackdowns on Christianity over the last few years as they seek to exercise control over Christianity in China. Communist governments, and all other collectivist regimes, demand that the citizen's top loyalty be to the State, not to God, the Church, or even the family. The State essentially sets itself up as God, and hates competition for that slot. 
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36 Christian Refugees Arrested in Thailand - Face Deportation Back to Pakistan

The following is an unedited press release from International Christian Concern (ICC). Please check out the ICC website at www.persecution.org for more on the persecution and genocide of Christians around the world.
 

Dozens of Pakistani Christian Refugees Arrested in Bangkok

12/23/2019 Thailand (International Christian Concern) – Dozens of Pakistani Christian refugees in Bangkok, Thailand were arrested by immigration authorities on December 19 in an early morning raid. According to UCA News, an estimated 36 people, including children, were arrested in the raid.

The immigration officers “came knocking on doors and when the people inside didn’t open up, the officers broke the doors down,” Joseph, a Pakistan Christian refugee, told the media. “The authorities took them all, even the kids and women.”

“They are being held at a police station,” Joseph continued. “We done know what will happen to them.”

Due to widespread discrimination and religious intolerance, many Pakistani Christians flee to Thailand seeking asylum. Unfortunately, immigration authorities in Thailand take a dim view of these asylum seekers and often treat them as illegal immigrants.

While many of these refugees file asylum cases with the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR), it can take years before an individual case is heard. During this prolonged waiting period, many Pakistani Christian refugees are forced to hid out in Bangkok to avoid arrest and deportation by Thai authorities.

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Twitter: @TimGamble - My main account. News, politics, and economics, with some survivalist posts.
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At Least Nine Christians Murdered in Kenya Attack...

...for failing to recite the Islamic Shahada

The following is from a press release from International Christian Concern (ICC). My commentary follows the press release. Please check out the ICC website at www.persecution.org for more on the persecution and genocide of Christians around the world.

At Least Nine Christians Murdered in Kenya Attack

12/09/2019 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) – International Christian Concern has learned that on December 6, 2019, 11 non-local Christian passengers were attacked while travelling to Mandera from Nairobi and killed at Kotulo in northeastern Kenya. They were reportedly separated from their Muslim counterparts and killed for failing to recite the Islamic Shahada. 

Confirming the incident, a Kenyan police officer told ICC, “A passenger bus belonging to Medina Bus Company, traveling between Wajir and Mandera was attacked by a criminal gang at around 1730 hours this evening. The attack happened at Maadathe area, five kilometers to Kotulo. Lives are believed to have been lost.”

According to a reliable source, the militants separated passengers into groups, targeting the non-locals. Nine of the passengers on the Mandera-bound bus who could not recite the Shahada were paraded out of the bus and shot dead at close range by those believed to be al-Shabaab militants. There are two passengers still missing who are believed to also be dead. The names of those confirmed as killed are Athanus Kiti, Enos Odhiambo, Kelvin Mandela, Wisely Meli, Tikane Kasale, Leonard Mukanda, Francis Mbuvi, Rodgers Machuka, and Anchari Okerosi. The two still missing are Emmanuel Barasa and Nathan Bett.

Commenting on the terror attack, the governor of Mandera said, “I am deeply saddened to learn of the heinous bus attack near Kotulo, Wajir today around 5:00 p.m. where 10 passengers were killed [or are missing]. I am informed that the suspected al-Shabaab fighters cowardly segregated non-locals heading to Mandera from Nairobi. It is extremely sad and humanly disturbing to learn that, yet again, they segregated locals from non-locals before killing those they believed to be non-locals.”

The attack comes only a month after eight construction workers in Mandera escaped unharmed when the Somali-based militant group al-Shabaab ambushed the workers’ van along the Elwak-Kotulo road. It is common in northeastern Kenya for terrorists to target buses, separate passengers by religious identity, and kill the Christians.

In 2018, Fredrick Ngui Ngonde and Joshua Ooko Obila were killed in a similar manner for declining to recite the Islamic creed along the Garissa Masalani road.

In 2015, 148 students at Garissa University were killed by gunmen after the Muslim students were freed. In the same year, a Muslim teacher, Salah Farah, was shot for defending Christian passengers who were being separated for execution by al-Shabaab.

In 2014, 28 teachers traveling to Nairobi for the Christmas holiday were killed after being forced to recite the Islamic statement of faith.

Nathan Johnson, ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa, commented, “We pray for the families of the deceased and for peace to come to a region that has seen increased violence toward Christians who are just trying to survive. We hope that the government will take effective action to stop the senseless killing of so many Christians in Kenya at the hands of Islamic extremists like al-Shabaab. We praise God as the refuge and strong tower that He is for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ who continue to endure so much.”
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Chinese Church Leader Sentenced to Four Years in Prison

The following is from a press release from International Christian Concern (ICC). My commentary follows the press release. Please check out the ICC website at www.persecution.org for more on the persecution and genocide of Christians around the world.

Chinese Church Leader Sentenced to Four Years in Prison

   Sentence Defies Previous Legal Promises by the Police

International Christian Concern (ICC) is reporting that Qin Derfu, an elder from Sichuan’s Early Rain Covenant Church (ERCC) who has been detained since last December, was sentenced to four years in prison for “illegal business” on November 29. The sentencing took place four days after his trial at the Qingyang People’s Court.

The police promised Qin’s family that if they allowed the government to employ two assigned lawyers to replace Qin’s own assigned lawyer, Qin “would only need to appear at the court before he can be released.” However, the judge then slapped him with the four-year sentence for illegally printing and publishing publications without authorization from the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.

According to Radio Free Asia, Qin’s wife received two passes to attend the trial. Qin’s own assigned lawyer was, however, unable to sit in, and Qin was left to be defended by the two state assigned lawyers. The court asked Qin to plead guilty to the aforementioned accusations, to which he refused.

The judge stated that “Qin’s criminal act was especially grave,” for he printed tens of thousands of Gospel pamphlets. An ERCC member told RFA that during the trial, the prosecutor never mentioned Qin’s church, or that he is a Christian and an elder, in a clear attempt to mark this case as non-religious and purely about running an illegal business.

After Qin was sentenced, he asked the police to tell his wife, Xiao Hongliu, that he cannot plead guilty simply to meet the police’s needs, because his consciousness does not allow him to do so. In his last statement, he said, “I am a Christian, and I serve at my church, according to my congregation’s needs. With the understanding of an ordinary citizen, I have done nothing illegal or contrary to law, I believe having [Christian] faith is not a crime.”

Zhang Peihong, the assigned lawyer of imprisoned pastor Wang Yi, commented on Facebook, “According to Pastor Wang Yi’s testimony, he actively took the main responsibilities for printing these evangelism materials. So based on this (Qin’s sentence), I sense that Wang will receive at least 10 years of imprisonment.”

While most of the victims of last year’s 1209 ERCC crackdown have been released, Pastor Wang Yi and elder Qin Derfu are the last two who remain behind bars.

Gina Goh, ICC’s Regional Manager for Southeast Asia, said, “We strongly condemn the Chinese government for the injustice that has been applied to a devout Christian, who has done nothing illegal and was solely punished for his faith and ministry. We also ask for prayers for the Early Rain Covenant Church, as they continue to face persecution from the government, exploited of their right to freely worship in China.”
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Tim's Commentary: Why does this matter to Americans? Besides the compassion we should feel for Qin Derfu, this situation holds an important lesson:  With collectivist / communist / socialist governments, the State has to be God, and the State doesn't like competition, whether from religion, the family, or anything else.. If the USA really does down the path the Progressives want to take us down, we will lose our freedoms, including Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Speech.  
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