A Christian pastor in China could receive a 10-year prison sentence for protesting China’s cross removal campaign. The official charges against Huang Yizi is “gathering to assault a state organ.”
Huang Yizi and family
Yizi is allegedly the organzier of protests against the removal of the cross from Salvation church, Wenzhou. This practice has been widespread across China as the government forces a crackdown on a number of churches in Zhejiang province in eastern China, according to The Telegraph article dated Aug. 26.
Threats to remove the cross date back to July with over 1,000 members rallying to form a human shield and prevent worker’s from removing the cross.
Pastor Yizi, 40, has been openly critical of an ongoing anti-church demolition campaign and posted on his personal blog, saying the government’s actions were an example of “severe persecution” and an “insult” to China’s Christians.
In an interview with the South China Morning Post before his detention, Huang said he was prepared to face jail for his faith.
“I have decided to sacrifice for my beliefs. I am serious. I have been prepared for the worst since I posted many messages opposing the authorities’ campaign to remove churches and crosses,” he said.
“I know I will be put in jail one day. The authorities detained me twice in April, but they released me under public pressure. That just meant the time was not yet right.”
The Telegraph also noted that “Other preachers and church members have been detained, threatened and placed under surveillance since the demolitions began earlier in the year, according to members of Zhejiang’s Christian community. However, none has been held for as long as Pastor Huang nor faced such severe charges.”
