Persecution Of Christians Continues In China
By Jeremy Reynalds (05/23/05)
To ensure that the plight of Christians living in China continues to be told, the Committee for Investigation on Persecution of Religion in China (CIPRC) is periodically releasing stories documenting their brutal treatment.
CIPRC's Chief Secretary John Lee said in a previous e-mail interview, "We have mobilized thousands of brave house church Christians in China to investigate and collect the persecution cases. They have interviewed 560,000 house church Christians from 22 provinces, and have obtained invaluable first-hand information of over-two-million-word testimonies full of blood and tears and many photos as well."
This is a recent story from CIPRC. According to an e-mail from the organization, on May 14 2003, two evangelists were arrested and tortured in Fuyang City, Anhui Province.
That afternoon, according to CIPRC, Zhiming Guo, 22, a woman from Fuyang City, and Caixia Zhang, a woman also from Fuyang City, went out intending to share the gospel in Kaiqin Jiaozi Restaurant in Yingnan Town, Fuyang City.
Authorities came; arrested the women and took them to the police station.
That evening, CIPRC reported, the local police chief led the interrogation. In order to make Zhiming Guo confess, the police chief kicked her legs. Then policemen came and twisted her arms behind her back. Then the police chief pinched Guo's chest and eyelids so violently her eyelids started to bleed. But the chief did not stop. She continued the torture, picking up a pin and poking Guo's hands so hard that they quickly became covered in blood.
Then the policemen cuffed Guo's hands in an extremely painful position called "airplane cuffing," CIPRC reported, and beat her up. In the meantime, Caixia Zhang was similarly mistreated. The torture lasted until midnight. Then the police hung the women up by their toes, and covered their eyes and mouths with tape. This torture lasted for more than eight hours. Since that time, Guo's hands have had no feeling.
The torture and interrogation continued for a number of days, CIPRC reported. Guo did not say anything and was released. Zhang was sent to Xiguan Detention Center in Fuyang City.
According to CIPRC, the group was founded in 2000 in New York. Its objectives are to reveal the plight that the Chinese house church Christians have suffered, and to call on Christians in the free world to help their brothers and sisters in the persecuted church.
In a recent e-mail, Lee asked recipients, "What if both your hands lose feeling? Are you willing to give your hands for the sake of Gospel? If we are not willing to do so, then are we willing to take care of someone who did so?"
In an e-mail interview for a previous story, Lee said, "Due to the nature of our ministry, our organization has become the target of the Chinese Communist Party's ‘secret force' in the U.S. They (have) tried various means to stop us, such as stalking, intimidating, etc. But ‘The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?'"
For additional information about CIPRC go to www.china21.org
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