Chinese Pastor Charged with Embezzlement Given 14-Year Jail Sentence

Lorraine Caballero Wednesday, March 02, 2016

A cross on an underground Catholic church is silhouetted in Tianjin November 10, 2013. | REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

A Christian pastor charged with embezzlement in China has been given a 14-year jail sentence after he went against the government's cross removal campaign in the eastern province of Zhejiang.

An official at a Chinese court in Jinhua city confirmed that Christian pastor Bao Guohua had been sentenced to 14 years in prison for several charges including embezzlement, illegal business operations, concealing business information, and disrupting public order. His wife Xing Wenxing was also given a 12-year jail sentence, New Vision reports.

Local media say a fine of US $15,000 was imposed on Bao and US $14,000 on his wife. The court also seized around US $92,000 from the Christian couple, Christianity Daily reports.

In addition, their assets and a house owned by the church were seized. Ten other people were also reportedly jailed in connection with the said case. However, details on their respective sentences were not released, the report details.

Bao and Xing were arrested in 2015 after they spoke out against the cross removal campaign in Zhejiang.

Lin is going through shooting drills but not yet practicing fully. Again, #Nets are taking a cautious approach and understandably so.
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Last year, Zhejiang authorities announced that crosses on the roof of Catholic and Protestant churches should be removed. The crosses, which were supposed to be on the front side of the establishment, should not exceed a tenth of the building's height.

Around 1,200 crosses have been taken down from churches in the province in the last two years. In 2014, Wenzhou authorities demolished the Sanjiang Church, which the government had deemed as an illegal structure. Clergy members who resisted or protested the cross removals were arrested or detained.

Aside from Bao and Xing, other Christians have also been arrested over their protest against the cross removal, including pastor Gu Yuese of the Chongyi Church in Hangzhou. Authorities told his wife Zhou Lianmei that her husband was suspected of swindling.

While the Chinese government maintains that the crosses are a violation of the country's building codes, Christian activists say the campaign is just an effort to suppress Christianity in Zhejiang, where the religion is flourishing.