China: Christian Bookstore Manager Arrestted For Receiving 3 Tons of Bibles

China Aid, USA, September 5, 2007-

Midland, Texas (September 5, 2007)- China Aid learned that a well-known house church leader was formally arrested on August 31 for receiving 3 tons of bibles. Mr. Zhou Heng is also the manager of a registered bookstore which is called Yayi Christian Book Room which is used to sell some Christianity related books published legally and officially inside China. His bookstore was already forced to close after his arrest by the local authority.

Mr. Zhou Heng’s formal arrest’s notice was approved by Shayibake District People’s Procuratorate of Urumqi city on August 31 and sent to his wife Chen Jihong by Urumqi Municipal Public Security Bureau. According to a copy of the notice paper (a scanned copy and its translation are attached with this release) that CAA has obtained, Zhou Heng was accused of “illegal business operation.” Zhou Heng is currently detained at Xishan Detention Center.

He was jailed on August 3. He was detained when he went to pick up three tons of Bibles at a bus station. The Bibles were reportedly donated by South Korean churches and were intended for local believers free of charge.

However, the Chinese government only allows officially sanctioned (state) churches to print and distribute a limited number of Bibles each year. If convicted of the charges, he faces a 15-year prison sentence.

CAA China investigators spoke with a recently released inmate who shared a cell with Brother Zhou. The inmate reported Brother Zhou was beaten in prison severely by other inmates and prison guards. …… ( more details from China Aid’s report: House Church Leader in Xinjiang Formally Arrested for Receiving Bibles and Abused in Jail)