Pastor Zhang Mingxuan, head of the Chinese House Church Alliance, issued two public letters to China’s president, Hu Jintao, and a third to the international community, condemning the Chinese government for persecuting Christians who worship in underground house churches. Zhang, who converted to Christianity in 1986, says he has suffered repeated arrests, beatings, and 12 incarcerations for his religious organizing. Bob Fu, president of the Christian advocacy group, China Aid Association, also told the Christian Post’s Michelle A. Vu that 21 house church leaders were detained in December, then sentenced to spend more than one year in labor camps.
According to Fu, the intensified campaign against Zhang is “absolutely” related to the Beijing Olympics and the government’s effort to crack down on the house church movement.
