US President Bush Attends Worship at State-Sanctioned Church in China

US President Bush concluded the first day of his two-day visit to China with a stop to a state-sanctioned Protestant church in Beijing. Though Bush made an overt statement on religious liberty, the United States is taking a careful approach to China overall.

|PIC1|"My hope is that the government of China will not fear Christians who gather to worship openly," said Bush at Gangwashi Church. "A healthy society is a society that welcomes all faiths and gives people a chance to express themselves through worship with the Almighty."

The Sunday service was closed to all but those the Chinese government invited. The marble and brick church located in an alley is one of 20 state-sanctioned Catholic and Protestant churches in China, reports USA Today. Bush received a standing ovation from the congregation of about 400 when the pastor, the Rev. Du Fengying, announced him.

"The spirit of the Lord is very strong inside your church," Bush said.

Although the service was in Chinese, the structure and content were familiarly Protestant. Bush listened to translations on headphones.

When he entered, Bush wrote in the church's guestbook: "May God bless the Christians of China."

Under his handwritten note, the first lady wrote: "And with love and respect, Laura Bush."

Gangwashi’s pastor gave the president and Laura Bush Chinese-language Bibles in the only government-approved translation. Afterward, members of the choir assembled outside to see him off.

At Least 30 People Detained

Following the service, reports of the detainment of more than 30 people at the church were released through the media. According to the Associated Press, a witness said Chinese police detained at least 30 people that had gathered in hopes of complaining to Bush about China's government, but got there after the president had left.

One man who said he was detained said he wanted to tell the president that China "is a country with no human rights and no democracy," AP reported. He claims a woman was beaten but it's not clear how badly.

|TOP|A Chinese district police official initially denied that any detentions occurred, but then promised to look into the matter.

A recent report on international religious freedom released by the U.S. Department of State noted that while China’s government-sanctioned churches – such as the one attended by President Bush on Sunday – are able to worship without interference from authorities, among unregistered religious groups there are varying degrees of official interference and harassment. Members of some unregistered religious groups, including Protestant and Catholic groups, were subjected to restrictions, including intimidation, harassment, and detention, the annual report stated.

According to the China Aid Association, Bush's visit had been preceded by the arrest of eight house church pastors and 100 active believers in Huangfu Town, Shangcai County, Henan Province on Nov. 3. And Zhang Xingshui, a leading attorney for imprisoned house church pastor Cai Zhuohua was relocated 100 miles outside of Beijing.

"It's no coincident that this kind of incident should happen again before President Bush's visit." said CAA President Bob Fu, in a released statement. "To intimidate and relocate the defense attorney for an innocent house church pastor is a ridicule of the rule of law. We urge the international community and President Bush to pressure the Chinese government to protect freedom of religion and other human rights."

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of State re-designated China as one of eight "countries of particular concern" for denying religious freedom.







Rhoda Tse
Christian Today Correspondent