HANGZHOU HOUSE CHURCH CHRISTIANS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SHANGHAI 000024

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 1/11/2017
TAGS: PHUM KIRF PGOV CH
SUBJECT: HANGZHOU HOUSE CHURCH CHRISTIANS

REF: 2006 BEIJING 24614

CLASSIFIED BY: Mary Tarnowka, Chief, Political/Economic Section
, U.S. Consulate Shanghai.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)

1. (C) Poloff met with Hangzhou-based human rights activist Zan
Aizong and house church member Lin Tongqiang on January 8 to
discuss the situation of house churches in Hangzhou. Zan
confirmed reports that eight house church Christians were
convicted for inciting protests against the government on
December 22, 2006. Zan could not provide many details of the
case during his conversation with Poloff as three men who
appeared to be plain-clothes Public Security Bureau officers sat
near Zan and Poloff and listened in on the entire conversation.
However, according to a December 23 Reuters article which sites
Zan as a source, a local court in the Xiaoshan district of
Hangzhou ruled that eight members of a house church in Xiaoshan
had illegally built a church in Xiaoshan in July 2006 and tried
to stop authorities from demolishing the church by inciting a
protest. A December 22 AsiaNews (a Christian website) article
said two of the defendants, unofficial pastors Shen Zhuke and
Wang Weliang, were sentenced to three and a half years
imprisonment. Two other members of the group, Feng Guangliang
and Luo Bingliang, were sentenced to two years. The remaining
four had their prison sentences suspended.




2. (C) Zan added that the eight people that were convicted were
not leaders of the house church that was demolished, but were
targeted by the local authorities as a warning to house church
congregants. Lin and Zan said that in the eyes of the local
authorities, the Xiaoshan church had gone too far. House
churches were allowed to operate, but only within limits. If
congregations got too big and became too independent, local
governments would crack down on these churches. According to
Zan and Lin, this was what occurred in Xiaoshan. The Xiaoshan
congregation numbered in the thousands and its leaders had
organized protests to challenge local authorities when the
church was demolished. While local authorities could not
convict all eight people because of international pressure, it
needed to convict some of the people to keep local underground
churches in line.




3. (C) Lin and Zan believed that the religious situation in
Zhejiang province was improving. Zan said there were many cases
in which house church congregations defied the local authorities
by organizing protests or building churches without permission.
The increase in the number of these incidents was an indication
that house churches were becoming more powerful and independent.
Lin said the number of Protestants in the region was steadily
increasing and one out of every twenty people in Hangzhou was a
Protestant. Only 25 percent of Protestants in Hangzhou
worshiped in state-sanctioned churches. He said that the growth
of Protestants was not limited to a particular group and there
was an increase in both rural and urban areas. He noted,
however, that churches had more space to maneuver in urban
areas. He added that the central government was becoming more
interested in religious issues and had spent a lot of money
researching these issues. However, the lack of true believers
in the government made it difficult for the government to
understand Christianity. He believed that there would continue
to be conflicts as long as religious issues were managed by
non-Christians.

JARRETT