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Underground Catholics in Shandong – Christians in China

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Underground Catholics in Shandong – Christians in China Refugee Review Tribunal AUSTRALIA RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE Research Response Number: CHN33187 Country: China Date: 8 April 2008 Keywords: China – Underground Catholics in Shandong – Christians in China 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 tell me about underground Catholics in Shandong province? RESPONSE 1. Can you tell me about underground Catholics in Shandong province? This response contains information on underground Catholics in Shandong, underground Christians in Shandong and underground Catholics in China. Underground Catholics in Shandong No recent reports were found in the sources consulted regarding underground Catholics in Shandong. In December 2004 Asia News reported on the death of underground Catholic Bishop Gao Kexia of Yantai, Shandong. The Bishop died in prison and had reportedly been detained since 1999. The report states that: Bishop John Gao Kexian, 76, a reserved and timid man, died in an unknown prison in northern China. ...Gao Kexian was ordained bishop in 1993. For some time he worked in Hebei province. Eventually he was appointed as bishop to the neighbouring diocese of Yantai in Shandong province, a region that is so poor that an increasing number of peasants are forced to leave for the cities in search of work. It was here, with the assistance of very few priests, that Bishop Gao was able to carry out his evangelisation work till October 1999. His refusal to join the breakaway, national Church under the Catholic Patriotic Association led to his arrest (Cervellera, B. 2004 ‘Mgr Gao Kexian, martyred Bishop, killed by five years in prison‘ Asia News, 9 December http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=1465# -Accessed 8 April 2008 – Attachment 1). A 2002 journal article on the Catholic Church in China makes references to the Catholic community in Shandong. The article states that the Catholic community in Shandong in 2000 was only 90,000, approximately one-third of its estimated number in 1948. However, the article also reports that most Chinese provinces have a ‗sizeable underground church membership‘ (Liu, W.T & Leung, B. 2002, ‗Organisational Revivalism: Explaining Metamorphosis of China‘s Catholic Church‘, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, vol.41, no.1, p.133 -Attachment 2). A 1999 report from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) states that Shandong is one of the provinces in which the unofficial Catholic community ―has come under particular pressure‖. DFAT reported that: Other provinces where the unofficial church has come under particular pressure are Shandong (north-east china), where the CKF [Cardinal Kung Foundation] reported 5 custodial sentences in the period 1995 – 1998 varying from 2 to 5 years in term, and Jiangxi (eastern china), where the CKF reported 6 custodial sentences varying from 2 to 5 years in 1995. In addition to custodial sentences for leaders, there are credible reports that the authorities in all three provinces have periodically harassed less prominent activists in a number of ways; banning individuals from preaching; banning villages from celebrating a festival; detaining priests and/or members of congregations for short periods (from a few days to a few weeks) and in some cases beating them. In Hebei, the authorities have been known to use economic penalties such as fines, job loss or barring children from school, in order to force priests and believers to join the official church (DIAC Country Information Service 1999, Country Information Report No.297/99 – Refugee Claims Relating to Treatment of Catholics in Southern China, (sourced from DFAT advice of 12 August 1999), 13 August – Attachment 3). On the 9 April 2008, the Cardinal Kung Foundation was contacted for information on the situation for underground Catholics in Shandong. The Foundation is a Catholic organisation based in the United States which advocates and reports predominantly on the underground Church in China. The Foundation‘s reports are widely used and have been considered credible and reliable by the Vatican and Amnesty International (RRT Research & Information 2008, Email to Cardinal Kung Foundation: ‗Information Request from Refugee Review Tribunal, Sydney, Australia‘, 9 April - Attachment 4) On 14 April 2008, Joseph Kung responded to the request with the following information: I am not aware of any recent reports of jailing Shandong Catholic religious/laypersons or of sending them to a labor camp. By "recent", I mean for the last 6 months. However, there is no question that the underground Catholic Church in Shandong is and has been under close surveillance by the Chinese authority. There is a reasonable fear among the Roman Catholic population in Shandong to be harassed or arrested in practicing their religious belief, especially when such religious practice is considered illegal by the Chinese authority (Kung, Joseph 2008, Email to RRT Research & Information: ‗Information Request‘, 14 April - Attachment 5). Underground Christians in Shandong Sources consulted indicate that unregistered Christians continue to be arrested and detained in Shandong. A 20 February 2008 report on the Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) website states that 21 unregistered church leaders were sentenced to re-education through labour in Linyi, Shandong. The following is an extract of the report: Twenty-one prominent Christian leaders have been sentenced to re-education through labour in what China Aid Association (CAA) describes as the largest mass sentencing of house church leaders in China in 25 years. The Linyi City Re-education through Labour Commission in Shandong Province simultaneously sentenced 17 male and 4 female church leaders to re-education through labour for fifteen months to three years, according to news released yesterday by CAA. The 21 were detained during a mass arrest of 270 Christian leaders on 7 December 2007 in Hedeng District, Linyi City as they gathered for leadership training. The others detained with them were fined and released in the intervening period. The leaders were accused of holding an ―illegal religious gathering‖ and the 21 labelled as members of an ―evil cult‖, a term which Chinese authorities arbitrarily apply to unregistered religious groups (‗Mass sentencing of Chinese house church leaders; senior pastor issues appeal in run up to Olympics‘ 2008, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, 20 February http://dynamic.csw.org.uk/article.asp?t=news&id=710 – Accessed 8 April 2008 – Attachment 6). A November 2007 report by Asia News states that 270 underground Protestant pastors were arrested at a gathering in Linyi, Shandong. Asia News provides the following information: Police in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong have arrested 270 Protestant pastors from house Churches for taking part in an ―illegal religious gathering‖ in the district of Hedeng near the city of Linyi. At present about 150 Christians are still in a state prison, this according to a US-based NGO, the China Aid Association (CAA), which lobbies for freedom of worship in China. …According to Reverend Li, an eyewitness, the raid was ―violence and swift.‖ Police arrived in armoured trucks and prevented anyone from leaving the area. About 120 Christians were eventually released after paying 300 yuan (US$ 40) as an ―interrogation tax‖ …According to a secret document written by the Communist Party in Hubei Province, which was leaked to the West last November, a nationwide campaign is underway to ―normalise‖ underground Protestant Churches by giving them two options: either join the Three Self- Patriotic Movement—the set of government-sanctioned patriotic Christian organisations—or be suppressed (‗About 270 Christian leaders are arrested in Shandong for reading Bible together‘ 2007, Asia News, 12 November http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=11008 – Accessed 8 April 2008 – Attachment 7). In an August 2007 interview on Radio National Bob Fu, founder of the China Aid Association, stated that Christians in Hunan and Shandong continue to be detained. The following is an excerpt of the transcript of the interview: Stephen Crittenden: I thought the situation for Christians in China had been improving fairly significantly in recent years? Bob Fu: Well it depends on where you research and which area. You go to an eastern coastal city like Guangzhou, yes, the house churches even build up very beautiful church buildings, some with thousands of members. Stephen Crittenden: And they can pray more or less in the open? Bob Fu: Yes. They are much more open. But if you go to Hunan and Shandong and some other areas, you will find hundreds of believers and pastors are still being jailed and they are in a labour camp (‗China Missionaries expelled: Transcript‘ 2007, The Religion Report, Radio National website, 8 August http://www.abc.net.au/rn/religionreport/stories/2007/1998728.htm – Accessed 8 April 2008 – Attachment 8). Underground Catholics in China The US Department of State (USDOS) Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2007 – China, released in March 2008, reports that ―severe crackdowns‖
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