A jailed Chinese pastor has denounced an ongoing crackdown on Christian churches as an unjust persecution. The pastor and his wife were arrested alongside 100 church members and detained in southwest China on Sunday, accused of subverting State power, which can carry a prison sentence of up to five years. Two days after his arrest, church members published a letter he had written in September and instructed them to publish if he went missing for more than 48 hours.
In it he wrote that he respected “the authorities God had established in China” and that his aim was not to change institutions. However, he called the government’s persecution of the Church “greatly wicked” and an “unlawful action”.
“As a pastor of a Christian church, I must denounce this wickedness openly and severely. The calling that I have received requires me to use non-violent methods to disobey those human laws that disobey the Bible and God,” he wrote.
