Shi Weihan reunited with family
On 9 February 2011, Shi Weihan, a bookshop owner who addressed the shortage of Bibles in rural China by printing Bibles and Christian literature, was released from prison. He served a three-year sentence for ‘illegal business operations’ and was fined over £14,000 (150,000 yuan). China only allows one company, The Amity Press to print Bibles in China, explaining his arrest and imprisonment. Shi Weihan’s time in prison was particularly difficult due to his diabetes and knowledge that his wife was under surveillance. He has now been reunited with his wife and two daughters, and is said to be in stable mental and physical health.
Bible demand outstrips supply
Prior to his arrest, Shi Weihan had never been in trouble with the police. He is a respectable businessman with a young family and was serving as a house church leader in Beijing. His aim was to address the shortage of Bibles in a country with up to 100 million Christians, many of them new to the faith and in need of Christian literature. The sole authorised printer of Bibles produces twelve million Bibles each year, of which nine million are for export, leaving just three million available for Chinese Christians.
China’s religious freedom is a thin veneer
China perpetuates the myth of religious liberty by pointing to the apparent freedom of the official churches and the publication of literature such as Bibles. However, the official bodies do not have capacity to serve the spiritual needs of the Chinese population. Beijing, a city of 17 million residents, has just 12 government approved Three-Self Patriotic Movement (Protestant) churches. The printing and distribution of religious literature is also restricted and does not meet demand. Those who have chosen to print their own Bibles or religious materials have been arrested, fined, detained and imprisoned.
In some parts of China, Christians can still face harassment, humiliation, fines, church closures, imprisonment, torture and forced labour. Alimujiang Yimiti, a Uyghur house church leader in Xinjiang province is detained ‘solely for his faith’ according to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. He is serving a fifteen-year sentence. All in all, provisions for true religious freedom in China are a thin veneer.
CSW’s advocacy work for religious freedom in China
CSW campaigns for Chinese religious prisoners and supports human rights lawyers who take up the wider issue of religious freedom in China. In July 2010, CSW brought two Chinese human rights lawyers to the European Parliament to speak to MEPs about their experiences to give evidence at the human rights sub-committee. CSW continues to advocate for religious freedom in China.
