Refugees of The Church of Almighty God in Japan

Oral statement of Ms Christine Mirre, of the accredited NGO CAP-LC, at the 40th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Geneva, 13 March 2019.

As of January 2019, 270 members of The Church of Almighty God (CAG), a Chinese Christian new religious movement, have escaped China and applied for asylum in Japan. None of the requests has been granted.

That the CAG is ruthlessly and cruelly persecuted in China is an established fact. The CAG claims that more than 300,000 of its members have been arrested, and scholars regard the figure as credible. There are hundreds of published Chinese court decisions showing that CAG members have been sentenced to heavy jail penalties for the only circumstance of being active in a banned religious organization. NGOs have also reported instances of torture, extra-judicial killings, and organ harvesting.

Tortured to Death: A New Book Documents Extra-Judicial Killings of Members of The Church of Almighty God in China

The Belgian NGO Human Rights Without Frontiers reports on 20 cases of extra-judicial killing of members of The Church of Almighty Good in China

On 29 April 1997, Xie Yongjiang learned that one of his friends had been arrested for preaching. Fearing that his friend’s belongings would be confiscated by the police, Xie, his son-in-law, Mr. Gao, and Mr. Gao’s father, rushed to their friend’s home. The three men worked until 2:00am, moving their friend’s personal belongings to a safe place.

The three men rode their bicycles home in the early morning hours of 30 April; but as they neared the town of Wugou, they were stopped by local police officers. Xie Yongjiang, who had been arrested previously as a member of The Church of Almighty God, a Chinese Christian new religious movement, was recognized by the officers. All the trio was arrested and taken to the Wugou Town Police Station.

Story of O: Korea #1 Bigot Harasses Refugees (and Many Others)—Again

On July 22, new false demonstrations against refugees from The Church of Almighty God start in Korea. The bigot promoting them is spreading hate against all minorities.

The Bloody Tribute Paid by The Church of Almighty God

The “2018 Annual Report on the Chinese Communist Government’s Persecution of The Church of Almighty God” has been published. The situation is worsening.

It is rather curious that a regime, which professes to be materialistic and secularist by choice, vocation, practice and conviction, at the same time pretends to decide what a religion is. Furthermore: to decide which are the “good” religions and the “bad” religions.

The Church of Almighty God’s Refugees in Japan: A Statement at the United Nations

No refugee of The Church of Almighty God has been granted asylum in Japan, a country with a very restrictive policy on refugees in general. The situation has been discussed at the United Nations

As of January 2019, 270 members of The Church of Almighty God (CAG), a Chinese Christian new religious movement, have escaped China and applied for asylum in Japan. None of the requests has been granted.

Court of Rome: CAG Refugees Returning to China Would Suffer “Serious Harm”

The Court of Rome granted asylum to a member of the Church of Almighty God, acknowledging that the Church is persecuted in China.

Amalia Astori and Laura Bondi

Mrs. L.Z., a forty-six years old Chinese citizen, converted in 2011 and became a member of The Church of Almighty God (CAG), which helped her during a difficult period of her life.

Since the CAG is persecuted in China, Mrs. L.Z. met secretly once a week with her fellow believers, in different homes, to worship and read the movement’s sacred scriptures. In 2014, during one of these meetings, the police broke in. Mrs. L.Z. managed to escape from the back door and hide into a cornfield, located behind the house where the meeting was taking place.

Gospel Movie Clip (1) - Why Does the CCP Monitor and Oppress Christians So Much?

The Chinese Constitution clearly stipulates freedom of religion, but behind the scenes, the government expends vast human and financial resources on madly suppressing religious beliefs and brutally persecuting Christians. They have not even stopped at purchasing the most advanced surveillance equipment to monitor, track, and arrest Christians. The Chinese government has stripped its citizens of their right to freedom of belief and has wantonly deprived believers of their right to subsistence. So what really is the reason and the goal behind the CCP doing all of this?

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Must Watch Christian Movie | Chronicles of Religious Persecution in China “A Youth of Bloody Tears”

Accomplices: Western Companies Supporting CCP Atrocities Denounced in Washington

At the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom organized by the U.S. State Department in Washington DC, high-tech companies supplying components to Chinese surveillance systems are told that this is immoral—and should be illegal too.

The Largest Religious Freedom Event in the World

The Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, now in its second edition, is the largest religious liberty gathering in the world. Some 100 governments and 500 NGOs and religious organizations answered the appeal of U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and U.S. Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback, to work together for religious freedom. The Ministerial includes a closed-door program for delegates and several side events.

They Are Coming! CCP Sends Again Relatives of Church of Almighty God Refugees to Korea to Stage False Demonstrations

The CCP harasses again the relatives of CAG refugees in Korea who live in China, luring them to travel abroad to South Korea on July 22-24 next to “search for relatives” and bring them back… to jail.

The Church of Almighty God: Persecuted At Home and Abroad

The Church of Almighty God (CAG) is the largest Chinese Christian new religious movement. Due to its rapid growth, the Church was included in the xie jiao list by the CCP in 1995 and has been heavily persecuted since. CAG members have been subjected to persecution, with frequent cases of arrests and torture. According to the recently released 2019 report of the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), “in 2018, the Chinese government harassed and arrested thousands of followers of […] The Church of Almighty God. Many of those detained during the year—whom The Church of Almighty God estimates to be in the thousands—suffered torture and other abuses, in some cases resulting in deaths or unexplained disappearances while in custody.” According to the yearly Report on International Religious Freedom of the U.S. State Department for 2019, covering the year 2018, “The Church of Almighty God reported authorities arrested 11,111 of its members during the year,” against 9,000 from Falun Gong, the second most targeted group. “The Church of Almighty God, the document adds, reported authorities subjected hundreds of their members to ‘torture or forced indoctrination.’” Overall, the document said, “The Church of Almighty God reported authorities subjected 525 of its members to ‘torture or forced indoctrination’ during the year. The Church also reported members suffered miscarriages after police subjected them to ‘torture and abuse’ in detention facilities.”

South Korean False Demonstrations Against The Church of Almighty God Refugees End in Disgrace

Police intervention stops further false demonstrations by CCP executives and anti-cultists harassing harmless refugees in Korea. 

Bitter Winter has reported in the last few days about false “spontaneous demonstrations” organized in South Korea against The Church of Almighty God (CAG) by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) executives who came from China for this purpose, with relatives of CAG asylum seekers they had “persuaded” to join them and local anti-cultists led by pro-Chinese activist Ms. O Myung-ok. For a fortunate coincidence, the Austrian journalist Peter Zoehrer, secretary of FOREF (Forum for Religious Freedom Europe), was in Seoul for collecting material about CAG members who suffered torture in China, and was able to document and photograph the events for Bitter Winter.

Human Rights Day: Chinese Christians Abroad Express Support for Persecuted Mainland Groups

Human Rights Day: Chinese Christians Abroad Express Support for Persecuted Mainland Groups

Seventy years ago as the gunpowder smoke from the Second World War was just dissipating, from the tragic cost exacted by the war people began to reflect and realize the importance of upholding basic rights for humanity. On December 10, 1948, the United Nations passed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, establishing that everyone is equal in dignity and human rights. In spite of the fact that China signed this U.N. declaration, in practice, the Chinese Communist Party has never implemented a single article, all the while proclaiming China’s human rights and freedom of religion as well as doing its utmost to cover up the truth of its persecution of religious beliefs and violations of human rights in order to deceive the people of the world. On December 10, 2018 at the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights across Italy, Christians from The Church of Almighty God, which has been most seriously persecuted by the CCP, expressed their support for all persecuted groups in mainland China.

More information:  Film Festival News Feed

Saying “No” to CCP Tyranny: Canadian Multi-ethnic Communities Demand a Stop to Human Rights Abuses

The international community has recently had its eyes on the arrests of Canadian citizens in China, with a report referring to the CCP’s actions as similar to a bandit “taking a hostage.” The Canadian government confirmed on January 3 that since the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, a total of 13 Canadian citizens have been arrested in China. On January 4, a coalition of representatives from multi-ethnic Canadian communities held a demonstration and a march in front of the Chinese Consulate in Toronto demanding that the CCP immediately release arrested Canadian citizens, shut down their concentration camps, and stop their human rights abuses.

Recommended reading:

The Chinese Communist Party Uses “Cult” as a Pretext to Persecute Religious Beliefs | What’s a Cult? 

EU Parliament: The Church of Almighty God Christians in worse position than Uyghur Muslims

On December 10, 2018, Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF) and EU Reporters held a round-table discussion in the European Parliament. The discussion centered around the current situation of religious persecution in China, and focused on the persecution suffered by The Church of Almighty God. Among the participants were EU Parliament member Tomáš Zdechovský, political advisor Dr. Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy, HRWF director Willy Fautre, and HRWF deputy director Lea Perekrests.

Know more:

The Chinese Communist Party Uses “Cult” as a Pretext to Persecute Religious Beliefs | What’s a Cult? 

INTERVIEW: A Christian Family's Escape from the Chinese Communist Party

On August 31, 2018, agents assigned by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organized some relatives of Christians from The Church of Almighty God (CAG) who had fled to South Korea from China, to hold a press conference at the Jeju Parliament under the pretext of “seeking for relatives.” They strongly requested the Korean authorities to deport the displaced Christians back to China. 

Between September 1 and September 4, Ms. O (吴某, Ms. Wu), a pro-Chinese Korean activist, recruited professional demonstrators along with some relatives of CAG Christians to stage false “spontaneous” demonstrations respectively at the CAG communities in Seoul and Chungcheongbuk-do, and before the Blue House, the executive office of the President of South Korea. 

Gospel Song 2018 "Give Mind and Body to Fulfill God's Commission" | The Great Mission of Christians

I

As members of the human race,

as Christ’s devoted followers,

it’s our duty, our responsibility

to offer up our minds and bodies

for the fulfillment of God’s commission.

For our whole being came from God,

and we exist thanks to His sovereignty.

For our whole being came from God,

and we exist thanks to His sovereignty.