China court jails Christian pastor for 12 years
Harsh sentence handed down by Henan court to Christian pastor Zhang Shaojie seen by his supporters as a part of a crackdown on growing religious activity
The pastor of a Christian church in central China was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Friday in what supporters say is a crackdown aimed at curbing fast-growing religious activity, his lawyer said.
Zhang Shaojie of the Nanle County Christian Church in Henan province was convicted of fraud and of gathering crowds to disturb public order, according to lawyer Yang Xingquan.
Zhang’s church is sanctioned by the government, which allows worship only in state-monitored groups, but has been involved in a dispute with local authorities over land for a new building.
By official estimates, China has 23 million Christians. The country also has a large number of unsanctioned underground, or home, churches that have attracted millions of worshippers and have been targeted in repeated crackdowns. A report by the Washington-based Pew Research Centre said there were probably 67 million Christians in the country in 2010, including 58 million Protestants and 9 million Catholics.
The ruling party is wary of religion as a possible rallying point to challenge its rule and uneasy about the rapid spread of Christianity three decades after Beijing loosened social controls in pursuit of economic development.
In the eastern province of Zhejiang, where Christianity has been particularly popular, local governments have been tearing down crosses on Christian churches, even if they have been officially sanctioned, on the grounds that they lack construction permits.