House Church destroyed in Zhejiang

The house church was built on private property bought by a Christian couple. It was located in Che Lu Wan Village, Dangshan Town, Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China.

The house church had been under construction since July 17, 2006. It was almost finished. It was declared illegal because the police said they had not gotten government permission to build. But, sources from the government and the church have said that the local government has denied the Christians' attempts to get permission to build a church.

The Hangzhou Daily (the Communist Party mouthpiece in Hangzhou City) headline on July 30, declared "An Illegal Building Destroyed," failing to mention that the building was a church.

There were 10 thousand house Christians who came to try and save the building. But, the police used used electric shock batons and anti-riot shields to disperse the Christians.

This is not the first church destroyed in this same district. In 2003, a large house church was bulldozed in Nanyang town. 3 House Church members in Beijing reported on the destruction and were subsequently sentenced to 1 to 3 years for "providing national secrets to overseas organizations".

Mr. Liu Fenggang, who was sentenced to three years, is still imprisoned at Hangzhou Prison. "The destruction of the church building and use of excessive police force to beat peaceful Christians is totally unacceptable," said Rev. Bob Fu, the President of China Aid, "The international community should hold the Zhejiang government accountable for their religious persecution record."

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