Imprisoned Chinese Pastor's Family Members Escape to America

Zhang Shaojie's daughter, Zhang Huixin, son-in-law, Sun Zhulei,

and 1-year-old granddaughter, Sun Jiexi, were aided by Chinese

Christian convert and activist Bob Fu's organization, reported the Associated Press . The family was originally based in Southeast China before arriving in Dallas, Texas, on Monday.

Zhang's controversial sentence blamed the pastor for gathering

crowds to "disturb public order," a decision which ChinaAid

argued constituted religious persecution and the Chinese

government's attempt to hold back the growth of Christianity.

"This case shows the Chinese government continues to cover up

religious persecution with fabricated criminal charges against an

innocent church leader," said Bob Fu, the head of China Aid,

according to The Telegraph.

Liu Weiguo, a rights lawyer who has worked with the pastor in

the past, said that he was shocked at the severity of the

sentence.

"I strongly believe Zhang Shaojie is innocent. This is a total set-

up by the local government," the lawyer said.

Although the church is officially sanctioned by the Communist

government, it has reportedly been involved in land disputes for

a new building with local authorities.

On July 8, in its Daily Briefing, the U.S. Department of State

spoke out against Zhang's sentence, describing China's actions

as "retaliation for his peaceful advocacy on behalf of his church

community."

"We call on Chinese authorities to release Pastor Zhang and we

urge China to cease harassment of his family members and

congregants. We call on the Chinese authorities to allow citizens

to worship freely in accordance with China's own laws and its

international human rights commitments. Freedom of religion is

a critical – is critical to a peaceful, inclusive, stable, and thriving

society," spokesperson Jen Psaki said.

Fu assisted with Zhang's family's departure, which was initially

blocked on June 23 by officials, who held up them up for reasons

of "national security."

"Fu then flew to Southeast Asia to activate a network that

escorted the three out of China and to the United States. He said

U.S. authorities gave the family authorization to enter the

country to appeal for asylum on the grounds of religious

freedom," reported AP. The report added that a spokesman for

the Beijing Embassy refused to confirm the account based on

"U.S. law and policy."

In an email from Fu, Zhang expressed his gratitude that his

daughter's family was now secure.

"Our family and our church want to thank the U.S. government

and many anonymous church leaders in different parts of the

world for helping assist our family's hard fought freedom. Our

family comes here to raise awareness of the deteriorating

situation of religious freedom in Nanle and in China," he wrote.

source: christianpost