Korean Pastor Files Lawsuit Against Government Agency in Tianjin City for Religious Persecution

UPDATE: This is from our good friends at China Aid and used with permission.

Attorney Wu speaks with with Christians at Immanuel Church

August 6, 2009

TIANJIN– On July 24, 2009, Pastor Han Changxu, a pastor from Immanuel Church in Jinghai County of Tianjin, requested Attorney Wu Chenglian to submit an “Agent’s Statement for the Administrative Plaintiff” to Jinghai County People’s Court.  In the statement, he states that Jinghai County Branch of Homeland Resources made a wrongful decision to demolish the nursing home and church in Xiaohe village of Yanzhuang town on the grounds of demolishing “illegal structures.” 

On May 16, 2009, Jinghai County Office of Religion of Tianjin issued a notice to abolish Immanuel Church and banned Pastor Han Changxu from his ministry at the church. Pastor Han Changxu, an ethnic Korean from Heilongjiang province, has been serving in Immanuel Church since 2004.

During the 2008 Olympics, when authorities in Tianjin discovered that Pastor Han had contact with missionaries from South Korea, they began to stalk him and put him under surveillance. In March of this year, when a Christian from South Korea attended a Sunday service at Immanuel Church, police arrested Pastor Han Changxu and then expelled him from China. Jinghai County Homeland Resources Branch of Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Homeland Resources and Housing Administration then declared the church and nursing home “illegal structures.”

On June 27, 2009, without consulting departments in charge of religious affairs, the Bureau of Homeland Resources made a decision to demolish the site for religious activities built by Immanuel Church.

In the Agent’s Statement, Attorney Wu Chenglian points out that the decision of the penalty is not based on facts and lacks a legal basis. In addition, it also violates the principle of reasonable administration and the legal procedure. Attorney Wu therefore requests that the court support the requests in the plaintiff’s lawsuit and repeal the decision of the administrative penalty according to law.
 
Contact the Chinese Embassy in Washington D.C. and urge that Immanuel Church and the nursing home be re-opened and that Pastor Han Changxu be allowed to serve as pastor for the church:
Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong
3505 International Place, NW, Washington, D.C. 20008
Tel: (202) 495-2000
Fax: (202) 588-9760

NOTE: If you are a citizen of another country, please click here to find the contact information of the Chinese embassy in your own nation http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/wjb/zwjg/2490/.

Read the “Agent’s Statement for the Administrative Plaintiff” filed on behalf of Pastor Han Changxu.

Additional Photos: Pastor Han Changxu; Immanuel Church and nursing home

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