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Refugee Review Tribunal

RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE

Research Response Number: CHN33251 Country: Date: 24 April 2008

Keywords: China – Fujian – Fulin Kuangye An Xi Ri Christian Church – Eastern Thunder Church – Eastern Lightning

This response was prepared by the Research & Information Services Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. This research response may not, under any circumstance, be cited in a decision or any other document. Anyone wishing to use this information may only cite the primary source material contained herein.

Questions

1. Can you find any information on the "Fulin Kuangye An Xi Ri Christian Church", translated as the "Recovery Approaching Wilderness Sabbath Christian Church"? 2. Can you find any information on the "Dong Fang Shan Dian" which translates as the "Eastern Thunder" church in Fujian Province? 3. Please provide any information on the treatment of unregistered Christian Churches in Fujian Province.

RESPONSE

1. Can you find any information on the "Fulin Kuangye An Xi Ri Christian Church", translated as the "Recovery Approaching Wilderness Sabbath Christian Church"?

A search of the databases available to the Tribunal failed to confirm that the "Fulin Kuangye An Xi Ri Christian Church" ["Recovery Approaching Wilderness Sabbath Christian Church"] exists.

2. Can you find any information on the "Dong Fang Shan Dian" which translates as the "Eastern Thunder" church in Fujian Province?

Although there appears to be no religious denomination of the name ‘Eastern Thunder’ there is a church called ‘Eastern Lightning” which is described as a ; its beliefs are briefly outlined below:

Eastern Lightning, sometimes called the Church of Almighty God, is a fast-growing cult that is believed to have attracted up to a million followers in rural areas across the mainland. Its teachings, which include asking followers to worship a middle-aged woman surnamed Deng as the female Christ, was banned on the mainland along with the in 1999. The group has been accused of locking up and beating members who want to leave. It is also alleged to be the mastermind of the kidnapping in 2002 of 34 Christian leaders from mainland cities. Its beliefs mix elements of Chinese nationalism with religion, claiming God has been reincarnated among Chinese people and will conquer the west. Eastern Lightning believes the apocalypse is at hand and the "final Christ" is here to judge the world. (‘A female christ called Deng’ 2005, South China Morning Post, 20 April – Attachment 1)

The ‘Eastern Lightning’ was involved in violent incidents and some its members were murdered by another religious group:

Three Grades of Servants and another quasi-Protestant sect, Eastern Lightning, were among the largest charismatic and evangelical church groups. They spread widely and recruited heavily among peasants and migrant workers. They formed tight, secretive organizations that thrived despite official repression. Some members of Eastern Lightning who had sought to lure away followers of Three Grades of Servants were found murdered beginning in 2002. Estimates of the number of victims have ranged as high as 20. That pushed both sects more deeply underground. At one time, overseas Christian aid associations considered both sects to be legitimate religious groups. But many Christian experts have since argued that their teachings are heretical and their organizational practices do not adhere to international norms. Three Grades of Servants and Eastern Lightning became archrivals in the early part of this decade as they competed to sign up adherents across northeastern China. Some estimates put the number of Eastern Lightning followers who were killed as high as 20. The police pursued a nationwide crackdown against Three Grades of Servants in 2004 and 2005. They captured Xu, who had been jailed several times, and prosecuted 62 other people involved with the church. Xu was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in July. About 21 other accused church members have so far been sentenced to death sentences, according to court documents seen by international religious groups, and 12 of the executions have been carried out. "The authorities presented this as a mafia-like conspiracy, but they never came close to proving their case," Li said. "What they really aimed to do is to shut down the whole church because they did not want to see another Falun Gong." (Kahn, Joseph 2006, ‘China executes Christian sect leader’ International Herald Tribune, The New York Times Media Group, 30 November – Attachment 2)

The Eastern Lightning Church was accused of coercive practise in its recruitment of members as is detailed in a previous Research Response:

A 2003 item from the Revival Chinese Ministries International website is of interest as it mentions that the churches in Hainan have come under attack from the Eastern Lightening cult, which operates by infiltrating house churches and trying to take them over: EASTERN LIGHTNING CULT ATTACKING CHURCHES IN HAINAN ~ 21Aug03 The Eastern Lightning cult has ordered the seizure of Christian churches in the entire Hainan province within a year. It is said that 1,000 young workers from the cult have been planted in the Hainan churches as spies. They have been instructed to offer whatever help the churches needed with the ultimate aim of destroying them. The Wanning Hele Church sponsored by the Wanning Church is believed to have come under the attack of Eastern Lightning. The ploy was uncovered in time and corrective actions taken to protect most of the believers. The church had also terminated the services of all its co-workers. Pray for God’s help to all the Hainan churches. Source: Wanning Church of Hainan province (‘Eastern Lightning Cult Attacking Churches In Hainan’ 2003, Revival Chinese Ministries International, 21Aug, http://www.rcmi.ac/eng/html/updates/e_previous03.htm – Accessed 15 September 2005 – Attachment 3). ...

The 2005 US Department of State report on human rights in China states in the section on religion: The authorities continued a general crackdown on groups considered to be “.” Premier Wen Jiabao, in his address to the NPC in March, stressed that government agencies should strengthen their anti-cult work. These “cults” included not only Falun Gong and various traditional Chinese meditation and exercise groups (known collectively as “qigong” groups) but also religious groups that authorities accused of preaching beliefs outside the bounds of officially approved doctrine. Groups that the Government labeled cults included Eastern Lightning, the Servants of Three Classes, , the South China Church, the Association of Disciples, the Full Scope Church, the Spirit Sect, the New Testament Church, the Way of the Goddess of Mercy, the Lord God Sect, the Established King Church, the Unification Church, and the Family of Love. Authorities accused some in these groups of lacking proper theological training, preaching the imminent coming of the Apocalypse or holy war, or exploiting the reemergence of religion for personal gain. The Eastern Lightning group was accused by the Government and some other unregistered Christian groups of involvement in violence. Actions against such groups continued during the year. In April, over 100 members of the evangelical group the “Servants of Three Classes” were detained in , Heliongjiang Province. Most were released, but Gu Xianggao died in custody, allegedly as a result of beatings by police (see Section 1.c.) Police also continued their efforts to close down an underground evangelical group called the “Shouters,” an offshoot of a pre-1949 indigenous Protestant group. In 2001, Gong Shengliang, founder of the South China Church, was sentenced to death on criminal charges including rape, arson, and assault. In 2002, an appeals court overturned his death sentence, and Gong was sentenced to life in prison. In the retrial, four women from his congregation claimed that, prior to the first trial, police had tortured them into signing statements accusing Gong of raping them. The four women, who were found not guilty of “ cultist activity” in the retrial, were nonetheless immediately sent to reeducation- through-labor camps. In the retrial, the court also dropped all “evil cult” charges against the South China Church. During the year, elderly church member Chen Jingmao reportedly was abused in prison for attempting to convert inmates to (US Department of State 2005, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2004-China, 28 February – Attachment 4).

The US Department of State report on religious freedom for 2004 contains little detail on the Shouters in particular, but does state: The Government continued its repression of groups that it categorized as “cults” in general and of the Falun Gong in particular. The arrest, detention, and imprisonment of Falun Gong practitioners continued. Practitioners who refuse to recant their beliefs are sometimes subjected to harsh treatment in prisons and reeducation-through-labor camps and there have been credible reports of deaths due to torture and abuse. Christian-based groups that the Government considered cults were subjected to increased government scrutiny during the period covered by this report (US Department of State 2004, International Religious Freedom Report 2004: China, 15 September – Attachment 5)

Also relevant is this extract from the same report, which indicates a hardening of government attitudes towards religious cults: In November 2003, the CCP Central Committee held a high-level meeting in Beijing attended by Politburo members and other high-ranking officials responsible for overseeing religion. In January, a national work conference on religion organized by SARA was held to outline concrete actions to “strengthen religious work.” The conference advised that officials should guard against Christian-influenced “cults” and avoid negative influences, including “foreign infiltration under cover of religion.” Conference attendees also raised concern about circulation of foreign religious materials addressing the growth of Christianity in the country, including a documentary film entitled “The Cross” and a book entitled “ in Beijing.” Subsequently, many provinces convened their own local work conferences. For example, in February the Fujian Province conference noted that unauthorized establishment of religious venues and icons “interferes with the Government’s administration of religious affairs, affects the normal activities of patriotic religious groups, helps the development of evil cults and illegal religious powers, and gives foreign countries opportunities to conduct religious penetration.” The 2004 national work conference was a contrast to a landmark 2001 conference at which President Jiang Zemin spoke about the sustained role of religion in society and raised questions about the traditional Marxist concept of opposing religion (US Department of State 2004, International Religious Freedom Report 2004: China, 15 September – Attachment 5) (RRT Country Research 2008, Research Response CHN17523, 15 September - Attachment 6)

This is corroborated by recent information from the State Department: In 1999 the Government began banning groups that it determined to be "cults," without publicly defining the term. The Government banned the Falun Gong, the Guan Yin (also known as Guanyin Famin, or the Way of the Goddess of Mercy), and Zhong Gong (a qigong exercise discipline). The Government also considers several Protestant Christian groups to be cults, including the "Shouters" (founded in the in 1962), Eastern Lightning, Society of Disciples (Mentu Hui), Full Scope Church, Spirit Sect, New Testament Church, Three Grades of Servants (also known as San Ba Pu Ren), Association of Disciples, Lord God Sect, Established King Church, Unification Church, the Family of Love, and South China Church.

… In November 2006 the Government executed leaders of the Three Grades of Servants Church, which it designated a cult. The leaders, Xu Shuangfu, Zhang Min, Zhu Lixing, and Ben Zhonghai were sentenced to death for alleged murders of members of Eastern Lightning, a religious group that the Government had also designated a cult. Eleven other church members were sentenced to jail terms of 3 to 15 years. Even before the verdict in Xu's case had been announced, Xu's conviction was reportedly introduced as evidence in the trials of other group members, according to reliable reports. Many detained or charged with membership in the cult did not use the name Three Grades of Servants Church but instead asserted they were members of their own unaffiliated . (Section II. Status of Religious Freedom. Legal/Policy Framework. (US Department of State 2007, International Religious Freedom Report: China (includes Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau), 14 September www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90133.htm - Accessed Wed, 26 Sep 2007 – Attachment 7).

3. Please provide any information on the treatment of unregistered Christian Churches in Fujian Province.

Information on the situation for Christian churches in Fujian is contained in the following recent Research Response:

3. Does the treatment of Christians in Fujian differ from the situation in other provinces?

Opinions vary widely on how Christians are treated in Fujian compared with the rest of China.

In 1992 Anthony Lambert, a practising evangelical Christian, writing on Chinese Protestantism, argued that local religious regulations in Fujian were far more restrictive and 'leftist' than in other parts of China (Lambert, Anthony P B 1992, ‘Post Tiananmen religious policy’ in Religion, State and Society, Vol.20, Nos 3 & 4, 1992 – Attachment 8).

However, as mentioned above, in 2005 the executive secretary of the Hong Kong Christian Council commented that Fujian and Guangdong had "the most liberal policy on , especially on Christianity" (Executive secretary 1 Sept. 2005a) (Immigration and Refugee Board of 2005, CHN100387.E - China: Situation of Protestants and treatment by authorities, particularly in Fujian and Guangdong (2001-2005), 7 September, IRB Website, http://www.irb- cisr.gc.ca/en/research/rir/index_e.htm?action=record.viewrec&gotorec=449522 – Accessed 17 October 2006 – Attachment 9).

Contrary to his earlier comment, Tony Lambert stated in his 2006 publication that:

In general, the official religious policy has been applied relatively liberally in Fujian, although there have been occasional crackdowns on house churches and ‘underground’ Catholics (Lambert, Tony 2006, China’s Christian Millions, Monarch Books, Oxford, pp 240-241 – Attachment 10).

Even in a province, treatment of Christians generally is said to vary from place to place. Referring to local variations, Kim-Kwong and Carlson comment that:

Due to problems in coordination across all levels in a country as large as China, the implementation of the Party's very same policy on freedom of religious belief can range from endorsement of religion to suppression. Local politics dictate the final outcome of religious policy. ... Therefore, one needs to be extremely careful in interpreting the implementation of religious policies, as China is composed of thousands of local governments with cadres of varying levels of administrative skill and technical knowledge of religion (Chan, Kim-Kwong and Eric R. Carlson. 2005. Religious Freedom in China: Policy, Administration, and Regulation; A Research Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: Institute for the Study of American Religion.- quote from Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 2005, CHN100387.E - China: Situation of Protestants and treatment by authorities, particularly in Fujian and Guangdong (2001-2005), 7 September, IRB Website, http://www.irb- cisr.gc.ca/en/research/rir/index_e.htm?action=record.viewrec&gotorec=449522 – Accessed 17 October 2006 – Attachment 9).

The same IRBC source comments on the situation of Protestants in Fujian and Guandgong (2001 – 2005) as follows:

Human Rights in China (HRIC) commented in 4 August 2005 correspondence to the Research Directorate that the treatment of Christians is poor in southern China, particularly in the rural areas, though the organization could not elaborate, citing a lack of available information. However, the executive secretary of the Hong Kong Christian Council commented that Fujian and Guangdong have "the most liberal policy on religion in China, especially on Christianity" (Executive secretary 1 Sept. 2005a). In his travels, the executive secretary has met with local authorities who, he said, usually tolerate activities of unregistered Christian groups (1 Sept. 2005a). While authorities are of a more tolerant nature in rural areas than in urban centres, they would usually take steps to discourage religious activity if it had a link to groups from outside China (Executive secretary 1 Sept. 2005a). The executive secretary stated that he is aware of a number of unregistered churches along with schools, fellowships and even missionaries that have been allowed to operate in the two provinces for years (1 Sept. 2005a). As an example, he cited the case of Pastor Samuel Lamb's unregistered Damajan Church in Guangzhou, which he said has been allowed to hold meetings on a daily basis for 20 years without interference from authorities (1 Sept. 2005a). In cases where arrests have been made, the executive secretary pointed out that groups such as the Shouters and the Eastern Lighting, which are considered "heretical" by many Christians, have been targeted (1 Sept. 2005a) (Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 2005, CHN100387.E - China: Situation of Protestants and treatment by authorities, particularly in Fujian and Guangdong (2001-2005), 7 September, IRB Website, http://www.irb- cisr.gc.ca/en/research/rir/index_e.htm?action=record.viewrec&gotorec=449522 – Accessed 17 October 2006 – Attachment 9).

Today’s Fujian seems to fit to be described as one of the fastest growing Christian regions in China. Its capital, Fuzhou is dubbed “China’s Second Jerusalem” after Wenzhou. Tony Lambert depicts the province and its capital as follows:

Fujian has a thriving and rapidly growing Christian community. As a coastal province in the south-east, it was one of the first to be evangelised from the early nineteenth century. By 1949 there were about 100,000 Protestants. Official estimates of numbers of Protestant Christians in 2004 were 1,179,000 – a twelve-fold growth after fifty-five years of Communism. In early 1999 a TSPM spokesman stated there are 4,000 registered churches and meeting points. In 2000 the TPSM magazine Tianfeng revealed there were over 1,200 pastoral workers in Fujian.

Fuzhou, the capital, with its six surrounding rural counties and two smaller municipalities had at least 350,000 Protestants in 2002, meeting in 300 registered churches and 2,000 meeting points. In 2004, Fuqing City had 350,000 believers meeting in 520 churches, according to a Hong Kong pastor. After Wenzhou, it is the area with the second greatest number of churches in the whole country, and has been dubbed “China’s Second Jerusalem”. About 26 per cent of the population are Christian. Pingtan, a large island off the coast, has also seen incredible growth, from under 5,000 Christians in 1959 to 60,000 today, divided equally between registered and unregistered congregations. At least 15 per cent of the island’s population are Christians. (Lambert, Tony 2006, China’s Christian Millions, Monarch Books, Oxford, pp 240-241 – Attachment 10).

See also response to Question 2 above for the recent fluctuation of official control of unregistered or underground Christians in Fujian.

Despite the reports of apparent religious tolerance in Fujian, there are few recent reports of harassment of house churches. In January 2007, IRBC described “reports of house churches being destroyed in the provinces of Jilin and Fujian” (Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 2007, CHN102492.E – China: Reports of raids on Protestant house churches; frequency and location of raids (2005 – 2007), 22 June – Attachment 11). A September 2006 report from Asia News also describes the demolition of an unofficial church in a village in Fujian (‘Church destroyed in Fujian, another to follow shortly’ 2006, Asia News, 4 September http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=7112# – Accessed 6 December – Attachment 12). (RRT Country Research 2008, Research Response CHN33062, 31 March - Attachment 13)

List of Sources Consulted Internet Sources: Government Information & Reports UK Home Office website http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk US Department of State website http://www.state.gov Immigration and Refugee Board Canada http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/ Non-Government Organisations Amnesty International website http://www.amnesty.org/ Human Rights Watch (HRW) website http://www.hrw.org/ International News & Politics BBC News website http://news.bbc.co.uk/ Search Engines AlltheWeb search engine http://www.alltheweb.com/ Google search engine http://www.google.com.au/ Ask.com search engine http://www.ask.com Yahoo search engine http://search.yahoo.com Copernic search engine Databases: FACTIVA (news database) BACIS (DIAC Country Information database) REFINFO (IRBDC (Canada) Country Information database) ISYS (RRT Country Research database, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, US Department of State Reports) MRT-RRT Library Catalogue

List of Attachments

1. ‘A female christ called Deng’ 2005, South China Morning Post, 20 April. (FACTIVA)

2. Kahn, Joseph 2006, ‘China executes Christian sect leader’ International Herald Tribune, The New York Times Media Group, 30 November. (FACTIVA)

3. Eastern Lightning Cult Attacking Churches In Hainan’ 2003, Revival Chinese Ministries International, 21Aug, http://www.rcmi.ac/eng/html/updates/e_previous03.htm – Accessed 15 September 2005.

4. US Department of State 2005, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2004-China, 28 February. www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41640.htm - Accessed 2 March 2005.

5. US Department of State 2004, International Religious Freedom Report 2004: China, 15 September. www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/35396pf.htm - Accessed 17 September 2004

6. RRT Country Research 2008, Research Response CHN17523, 15 September.

7. US Department of State 2007, International Religious Freedom Report: China (includes Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau), 14 September www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90133.htm - Accessed Wed, 26 Sep 2007.

8. Lambert, Anthony P B 1992, ‘Post Tiananmen Chinese Communist Party religious policy’ in Religion, State and Society, Vol.20, Nos 3 & 4, 1992. (REFINFO).

9. Executive secretary 1 Sept. 2005a) (Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 2005, CHN100387.E - China: Situation of Protestants and treatment by authorities, particularly in Fujian and Guangdong (2001-2005), 7 September, IRB Website, http://www.irb- cisr.gc.ca/en/research/rir/index_e.htm?action=record.viewrec&gotorec=449522 – Accessed 17 October 2006. (REFINFO)

10. Lambert, Tony 2006, China’s Christian Millions, Monarch Books, Oxford, pp 240-241.

11. Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 2007, CHN102492.E – China: Reports of raids on Protestant house churches; frequency and location of raids (2005 – 2007), 22 June.

12. ‘Church destroyed in Fujian, another to follow shortly’ 2006, Asia News, 4 September http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=7112# – Accessed 6 December 2006.

13. RRT Country Research 2008, Research Response CHN33062, 31 March.