BARTLESVILLE, Oklahoma, (CWNews.com) - A US-based Christian rights group has drawn attention to the continued plight of Chinese Christians even as the world's focus has turned toward 24 US aviators being held by the Communist government.
The Voice of the Martyrs group said the detaining of the Americans should come as no surprise considering how it treats it own citizens. "Thousands of Chinese Christians are held hostage by Beijing everyday, simply because they refuse to deny their faith and submit to the Communist's brand of Christianity," said spokesman Gary Lane.
The group pointed to the case of Protestant minister Li Dexian who has been repeatedly arrested for refusing to submit to government religion overseers. Li has seen imprisoned Christians tortured so badly that their buttocks bled through their clothing. "They suffered this inhumane treatment simply because they failed to meet their daily production quotas in the Chinese labor camp," said Li.
Li expects he and some of his church members will be arrested again because the Chinese Government has created a secret list of house church attendees. He has learned from sympathetic government sources that Public Security Bureau agents plan to arrest those with previous arrest records if they continue to attend underground church services.
The Communist Chinese government requires Christians to worship only in state-controlled associations including the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which eschews any connections to the Vatican or the Pope. Many Catholics worship in churches that, while openly loyal to the government association, secretly pledge allegiance to the Pope.
Through Voice of the Martyrs, Li asked Americans to pray for Chinese Christians. "And pray that the 24-American aviators now in Chinese detention will be treated humanely by Beijing," said VOM spokesman Gary Lane. "We pray they will not be persecuted like the Chinese Christians."