The Chinese Communist Party consider Brother Chang Hao to be ‘a threat to national security.’ He is the preacher of a small rural church in Yunnan.

His poor health and the fact that his wife and mother are ill and without support are not sufficient to stop his case from proceeding to trial; until then, he will stay in jail. Last April, the police raided Brother Chang’s church, and Christian books, Bibles and anti-COVID masks were taken away. He distributed the masks inscribed with bible verses, which became popular among people but also gained unwanted attention from local authorities. Chang Hao was detained and later formally arrested for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, an accusation used against political and religious dissidents in China.

His family contacted multiple human rights organizations, but the Procurator still plans to prosecute him for “publishing and forwarding false information on the Internet, inappropriate speeches, causing serious chaos in public order, and having a bad social impact.” His family believes that this is not the truth and that these accusations emerge because Chang Hao operated a non-authorized house church and distributed anti-COVID masks with biblical verses.

This case also shows the tendency in the People’s Republic of China that preachers, who are viewed as a “threat” by the authorities, are first detained and then, with some vague accusations, are kept in jail and prosecuted.

Source: Bitter Winter