June 3, 2004

A spokesman for a ministry that highlights the persecution of Christians worldwide says the recent death of a house church leader in China proves that religious freedom does not exist in the Communist nation.

Late last month, 28-year-old Gu Xianggao, a teacher in a controversial house church group known as Three Grades Servants in Northeast China, was arrested by officers with the Public Security Bureau. The following day his family was called to the police station, told Gu had died, and then were shown his badly beaten body.

Gu's body was cremated, and his parents were paid the equivalent of $28,000 (U.S.) to keep quiet about the incident.

However, Todd Nettleton of Voice of the Martyrs says Christians in America need to contact these Chinese officials and speak out. "We need to let the Chinese government know that we know the truth," he says.

"We are hearing the stories of Gu Xianggao and others who are being arrested and beaten and even killed because they choose to follow Jesus Christ in their own way," Nettleton says. "We need to let the Chinese government know that we know what's going on, and we need to tell them this is not acceptable."

According to the VOM spokesman, the United States Department of State has asked for information about the circumstances of Gu's death while in police custody.

Nettleton is hoping the American government will press forward to discover the details. He says the U.S. government should place human rights above free trade. However, he notes that those values have not always been evident in America's dealings with the People's Republic of China.

"There's so many people making so much money out of China that we have sort of made a compromise and agreed to look the other way on human rights issues and religious freedom issues," Nettleton says, "and we need to let our government know that we're not happy about that -- that we think human rights should come first."

The spokesman added, "We shouldn't be able to be bought off of addressing religious freedom issues by being able to make money in China."

VOM contends that Gu's death while in the hands of the Chinese government authorities was not only a senseless tragedy but the result of serious human rights violations. The ministry is hopeful that the martyrdom of yet another house church leader in China will encourage believers in the U.S. to demand better treatment for Christians in the Communist nation.

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Voice of the Martyrs ( http://www.persecution.com )

© 2004 Agape Press. All rights reserved. Used with permission.