Pastor Wang Yi Sentencing

Pastor Wang Yi and wife Jiang Rong. (China Aid)

The sentencing of pastor Wang Yi to “nine years” in prison for “subversion” and “illegal business activities” shows how authorities in China are increasingly “intolerant” of unregistered churches, sources said.

Pastor Wang of “Early Rain Covenant Church” in Chengdu, capital of southwestern China’s Sichuan Province, was sentenced in closed-door proceedings for “inciting subversion of state power,” authorities announced on Monday, December 30, 2019.

As part of his sentence, Pastor Wang will have about $7,200 of his assets seized and be “stripped of political rights” for three years, according to a government statement.

“This is a pure case of unjust religious persecution against a peaceful preacher of a Chinese reformed church,” Bob Fu, president of advocacy organization “China Aid Association” (CAA), said in a press statement.

“This grave sentence demonstrates President Xi Jinping’s regime is determined to be the enemy of universal values and religious freedom. We call upon the international community to stand up to the Chinese Communist Party and hold this evil regime accountable.”

“Public security officials have also required many of the church’s members to meet with them five times a day,” he added.

Security personnel had arrested Pastor Wang and more than 100 members of his church in a December 9, 2018 raid; most of them have been released, while Pastor Wang’s wife and child remained under house arrest.

Early Rain Covenant Church elder Qin Defu was sentenced to four years in prison on November 29, according to China Aid. Qin was charged with illegal business operations as a result of the church using 20,000 Christian books, according to CAA. The convictions of him and Pastor Wang for “illegal business activity” are reportedly related to the church printing and distributing Christian books.

Church members were “tortured” to obtain information, to compel them to make false accusations against Pastor Wang and to fabricate evidence that he “colluded with foreigners to incite subversion of state power,” according to “Bitter Winter,”  a daily publication on “human rights” in China based in Italy.

“The fabricated evidence has now been used. The court was surrounded by armed police, and both relatives of the pastor and Early Rain Church members were prevented from entering,” Bitter Winter reported in a December 30th article.

“Apparently, Wang Yi’s influence in China’s house churches scared the Chinese Communist Party. He was among the initiators of the joint statement by pastors denouncing the persecution of house churches in China.”

The harsh sentence confirms that new regulations on religious affairs that came into effect in 2018 are aiding in a systematic crackdown on house churches, according to Bitter Winter. Unregistered churches are no longer tolerated as merely part of a “gray market,” a segment of society including churches, mosques and temples that refuse to join official Chinese religious organizations and not listed as “Xie Jiao” prohibited entities to be severely punished as they are seen as hostile to the CCP.

“Either they join the government-controlled Three-Self Church, or they are suppressed. As Pastor Wang Yi said himself, the persecution of Christians under Xi Jinping is the most horrendous evil in Chinese society.”

Pastor Wang was a “human rights” activist and a “constitutional scholar” before becoming a pastor.

Under the new religion regulations, house churches have been forced to “dissolve” if they refuse to register, according to an attorney quoted in The Epoch Times, adding that those registering are subject to surveillance, monitoring of sermons and other heavy-handed measures.

The U.S. State Department included China among 10 countries designated as “Countries of Particular Concern” for severe religious rights violations.

China ranked 23th on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2020 World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.

Pastor Wang Yi

As reported earlier on this blog we have been prayerfully following the tragic story of Pastor Wang Yi and his Early Rain Covenant Church as it unfolded during the last year.

On December 9, 2018, the Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, the capital of southwestern China’s Sichuan Province, was raided by authorities, forcibly shut down, and nearly 100 members of the congregation were arrested. Dozens of members of his “underground church” disappeared.

The church leader, pastor Wang Yi, was detained and accused of “inciting subversion of state power” and “illegal business operation” by a court in southwest China’s Chengdu. According to an announcement on an official court website this week Wang had been “convicted” in an open trial by a court in the city, where Early Rain Covenant Church had been based.

The charge of “inciting subversion” is often used against dissidents as a way to silence criticism of the government and the Communist Party. China’s officially atheist government is wary of any organized movements outside its own control, including religious ones.

Shortly before being detained, Wang wrote a post on his church’s Facebook page criticizing the Chinese government for repressing Christians in the country, saying “the Party can flourish for a while, but it cannot last forever. The Party can kill my body, but it cannot kill my soul.”

Apparently, Wang Yi’s influence in China’s house churches “scared” the CCP. He was among the initiators of the joint statement by pastors denouncing the “persecution” of house churches in China.

Arrested members of the Early Rain Covenant Church were “tortured” to extract information from them and make them falsely “testify” against pastor Wang Yi, providing “evidence” that he “colluded with foreigners to incite subversion of state power.”

Some were reportedly “drugged” with unknown substances. While they were in a state of “mental” confusion, the police extracted false testimony from them and recorded “videos” to use as evidence.

The fabricated evidence has now been used. Pastor Wang Yi was tried on December 26 before the Chengdu Intermediate People’s Court and the decision was announced on December 30. The Court was surrounded by armed police and both “relatives” of the Pastor and Early Rain Church members were “prevented” from entering.

Pastor Wang Yi has been sentenced to a term of “nine” years in jail, suspension of political rights for “three” years, and confiscation of his “personal” assets, for both “inciting subversion of state power” and “illegal trade.” The second accusation refers to the fact that Early Rain Covenant Church “printed and sold” religious books.

The decision confirms that, after the New Regulation on Religious Affairs came into force in 2018, there is a systematic program aimed at “cracking” down on house churches. They are no longer tolerated as part of a Gray Market in the system of Chinese religion. Either they join the government-controlled “Three-Self Church”, or they are suppressed.

This is Xi Jinping’s China. As Pastor Wang Yi said himself, the persecution of Christians under Xi Jinping is “the most horrendous evil in Chinese society.”

Christians in the country are split between “unofficial house” or “underground” churches like the Early Rain Covenant Church, and state-sanctioned churches where Communist Party songs also feature in the order of service. Catholics are similarly divided between unofficial churches led by bishops recognized by the Vatican and those who follow official CCP prelates.

Patrick Poon, a Hong Kong-based researcher with “Amnesty International”, said Wang’s sentence will “have a chilling effect on other house churches in China. The message is very clear, you will be the next Wang Yi if you don’t register and follow the Communist Party’s line on religion.”

Wang’s church was among a number of prominent “underground” churches shut down by the Chinese government in 2018 as part of a crackdown on religion, especially on followers of Islam and Christianity.

Beijing-based Zion Church, one of China’s largest “underground” Protestant churches, was banned by city authorities in September 2018 for operating without a license after dozens of officials stormed its premises. Earlier that year, unauthorized versions of the Bible were pulled from Chinese online retailers.