CP – The Trump administration has condemned the imprisonment of Wang Yi, pastor of one of China’s best-known unregistered house churches, calling it another example of “Beijing’s intensification of repression of Chinese Christians and members of other religious groups.” Wang, founder of the 5,000-member Early Rain Covenant Church in China’s southwestern city of Chengdu, was among dozens of the church’s members and leaders detained by police in December 2018, most of whom were subsequently released.
On Monday, the pastor was sentenced to nine years in prison on charges of inciting subversion of state power, part of Beijing’s crackdown on unregistered religious groups. “We are alarmed that Pastor Wang Yi … was tried in secret and sentenced to nine years in prison in connection to his peaceful advocacy for religious freedom. We call for his immediate and unconditional release. U.S. State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in a statement. “This is yet another example of Beijing’s intensification of repression of Chinese Christians and members of other religious groups,” the statement added. READ MORE
