From: Shixiong Li, President
Tel/Fax：(US)718-358-5605（Chinese）; (US)646-262-0156 (English)
To: Prime Minister Jean Chretien
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Canada
Date: April 17, 2003
Dear Respected Prime Minister Chretien:
Since the Canadian people always stand together with those for the human justice, I as a Chinese respect your people very much. I also want to ask you to tell your people a sad fact which is the religious persecution in China is becoming more and more severe. Tens of millions of Chinese Christians who refuse to join the patriotic churches (controlled by the Chinese Communist Party) have been being mistreated behind the skyscrapers. I hope your people with the strength of human morality will pay close attention to this issue.
Our organization aims at promoting religion freedom in China. I am the founder. Why do I take the risk of life to investigate the religious persecution in China? Because I believe God is much much greater than the Chinese Communist Party and the justice will defeat the evil at the end. Please let me briefly introduce myself. I was sent to the largest labor camp (Shayang Labor-Reformation Camp in Hubei Province) together with my parents when I was eight in 1960, where I spent 20 years. I grew in great fear. God helped me out of that horrible place, and He then brought me to the United States to engage in this ministry. This is the current situation: The Chinese Communist regime took the success of joining the World Trade Organization and winning the 2008’s Olympics as the awards from the international society. Therefore, instead of loosing religion persecution, it has taken the advantages of these events to further the persecution on those house church believers who refuse to join in the patriotic churches controlled by the government. The facts may shock you because tens of millions of the house church believers are not protected by Article 36 of the Chinese Constitution, which guarantees religious freedom for its citizens. Instead, they are struggling silently for survive under the horrible “secret state documents”.
Starting in the fall of 2000, we have mobilized about 20,000 Christians in China to visit and interview over 560,000 house church believers in 207 cities in 22 provinces. According to our investigation, it can be estimated that since the opening of China in early 1980s’, among over 60 million house church believers, 10,000 tortured to death, 20,000 permanently disabled due to torture, 2,700,000 have been arbitrarily arrested (one out of every 22), 440,000 sentenced to labor reform, 200,000 forced to flee from home, 750 publicly wanted, 130,000 under house arrest and 1,120,000 heavily fined. We are sure that these numbers are conservative, because many who were interviewed dare not speak out because of the fear of further persecution.
To further illustrate the truth, we are presenting to you some photographs and several Chinese governmental documents carried out of China by some Christians risking their lives. The photographs show the house church Christians tortured to death, or forced to meet underground, in caves, dense forests or the wilderness. The Chinese governmental documents presented here include
· The Notice from the Public Security Bureau of Baoding City about Printing and Distributing Implementation Plan to Launch a Basic Investigation on Targeted Catholics (Document No.134).
· The Notice From The Public Security Bureau of Baoding City about Printing and Distribution of Working Plan to Prevent the Illegal Christian Activities (Document No. 139)
· The Notice From the Religious Affair Department, the Public Security Bureau of Baoding City, about Running a Thorough Investigation on the City’s Overseas Religious Workers (Document No. 73).
We think that Document No. 73 should particularly cause your attention. Without the collaboration of the Chinese governmental overseas “secret force”, it is impossible to have such investigation done inside the Chinese territory.
It is very obvious that the current religious persecution has already exceeded the traditional political persecution in terms of scope and severity. Our website www.china21.org carries a lot more information about the persecution facts and the related governmental secret documents. Since October 2002, we have been reporting every day a new case about the Chinese police to persecute believers by arresting, extorting or torturing. Because of lack of manpower and fund (mainly due to the fear of the communists), we cannot translate all the reports into English.
What should make us worry is that after the cold war, the mankind seems lost directions, and the traditional values have been seriously challenged. The boundary between friends and enemies are becoming more and more unclear. The interests are getting more and more important. The leaders of mankind have gradually lost their moral responsibility. But the war never stops: just merchandise and market have replaced the bullets and battlefield. The flood of interests has destroyed the moral standards – money has become the only motivation and the only norm for human life. Back several years ago, the evil power could prevail only in few communism countries. However, nowadays, the Chinese Communists have not only successfully established or helped to establish state terrorism in China, North Korea, Vietnam, and other countries, but also extended such evil power to every corner of the world. This is not only a great tragedy for the Chinese people but also a big loss of human righteousness. Does such success of state terrorism mean the mainstream of mankind walking astray?
At the beginning of the 21st century, the world is concentrating on anti-terrorism against just small groups, but dare not to touch super-terrorists. What does this tell us? It is not difficult to see that the current world has been encouraging the succeeded super-terrorists, and more and more people are eager to share the economic benefits of such terrorism regime. The Bible tells us, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” The international society’s acquiescence on and even pretending “not-seeing” the state-terrorism have promoted the spread of terrorism around the world, stimulated and strengthened the terrorists’ confidence, becoming the soil for terrorism.
There is no difference in the nature between any terrorists. They all utilize narrow nationalism or racism for the personal ambitions of a few insane leaders. The only difference is that some have succeeded so that they can carry out terrorism actions under the guise of “national law”, and the others are still struggling using terrorism as the means to advance their cause to establish their own government in order to “legalize” all terror activities in the name of “internal affairs”.
It is worth to remember that Hitler, the No. One criminal of the World War II, who had killed tens of millions, had presided over two Olympic opening ceremonies, utilizing the Olympics to deceive the world. During these ceremonies, the athletes holding the torch had to not only run through the streets guarded by armed Nazi soldiers but also light the Olympic fire in front of the display of the Nazi army at the stadium full of the Nazi symbols. This indicated the international acceptance of Hitler and the Nazism. Thereafter, the anti-Nazi movement became more and more isolated. And even most ordinary people started to welcome the Nazi. People opposing the Nazi became the target of the public. It is very obvious that Olympics was a very effective tool for the Nazi to deceive the world. But who should take the responsibility for such a historical tragedy?
The old Nazi tried to gain so called “survival space” by killing foreigners; the present Chinese Communists are trying to obtain their goals by enslaving their own people through “internal affairs” and by poisoning the foreigners’ conscience. This soul-winning strategy using interests and money without fire smoke and bayonets will surely destroy the whole civilized world because it will destroy the foundations of all human conscience and erode human souls. As the consequence, the evil power will prevail over the righteousness and the whole world will become the same as the current China where morality is just for propaganda but not for practice.
The Bible says, “Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourself were suffering.” The religion persecution in China has already been made known to the whole world. To guard for the human dignity, we urge you fight for the justice for the majority of the Chinese who belong to the weak class and have been hoping desperately for justice. Remark on the persecutions hiding behind the skyscrapers. Let the facts talk. Encourage your colleagues to publish the “secret documents” and the photos of the victims of these documents. We are sincerely waiting for your moral support!
I am looking forward to your reply.
May God bless those standing with justice!
Li Shixiong
President