Contact: Bob Fu, China Aid Association, Inc., 267-205-5210, info@ChinaAid.org; www.ChinaAid.org, www.monitorChina.org

MIDLAND, Texas, Jan. 8 /Christian Newswire/ -- On January 1st, 2007 a group of Christians gathered in an office in the Party School (where the cadres of the Communist Party in this area are trained) of Baoding City, Hebei province to celebrate the New Year by studying the Bible. But they were besieged and raided by the local PSB officers at 10am. Over 40 Christians were taken away for interrogation. Most of the Christians were not released until 6pm the same day, including Dr. Li Baiguang who is one of the most famous Christian legal activists from Beijing.

The host of the Bible study, Professor Geng Sude, who is the vice president of the Party School, was reportedly released after several days of investigation. Professor Su (about 50 years old) is a secret Christian intellectual among the Chinese House Church. She is under tight surveillances now.

Moreover, CAA also learned that on January 4, 2007 the local police attacked a Christian gathering in Xizhuang group, Anlou village, Erlangmiao Township, Fangcheng County, Henan province. Three Christians were brought to the police station. The police released two of them the same day, while the other one, brother An Wenqing, a house church seminary lecturer, was released on January 5 after being interrogated for 14 hours by the police.

CAA learned from a reliable source, that recently Mr. Yie Xiaowen, the director of the Chinese State Administration for Religious Affairs, said in two internal meetings held in Beijing University and Chinese Academy of Social Science respectively, that the number of Christians in China has reached 130 million now, including 20 million Catholics. The Chinese government often underestimates the number of religious believers in its officially released figure.

“The unprecedented growth of the Chinese church has happened under ceaseless persecution,” said Bob Fu, the President of CAA, “we pray that China will realize true religious freedom soon.”

Issued by China Aid Association on January 8, 2007