Harsh persecution documented in China

Hangzhou, China — The New York-based Committee for Investigation on Persecution of Religion in China has released detailed reports from persecuted Christians in China, revealing that in the three-month period between June and August 2002, 182 house church Christians from 24 cities and 16 counties were arrested. Most were detained, interrogated and fined and many were tortured by police. For example, in July some 150 Christians were praying in the West Lake district of Hangzhou city when more than 70 police surrounded the house, arrested three church leaders and destroyed the church kitchen with a bulldozer. The same month, police arrested eight house church members in the Fengrun district of Tangshan while they worshiped, tortured them with beatings and electric shocks and forced them to pay fines of $121 to $483.