{"id":48552,"date":"2023-12-12T14:00:57","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T05:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=48552"},"modified":"2023-12-12T10:50:59","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T01:50:59","slug":"vomk-report-282","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2023\/12\/12\/vomk-report-282\/","title":{"rendered":"CHINA: CHRISTIANS ON TRIAL FOR SELLING BIBLES AT A DISCOUNT"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”48544″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”The case of ten Christians in Hohhot City, Inner Mongolia, China went to trial last month after nearly three years of pre-trial delays. The Christians are facing charges of illegal business operations for purchasing Bibles from the state-run Three-Self Church and reselling them to other Christians at a lower price. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” el_class=”headline”][vc_column_text]At the center of the case is <\/span>68-year-old<\/span> Evangelist Wang <\/span>Honglan<\/span>, who<\/span>,<\/span> according to Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr<\/span>.<\/span> Hyun Sook Foley, <\/span>continues to earn sympathy and respect from fellow prisoners and trial observers for her pure faith and conduct in the face of harsh treatment from authorities.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Over the years, to make the Bible more affordable, <\/span>Evangelist Wang <\/span>Honglan<\/span> and her co-workers <\/span>purchased <\/span>Bibles <\/span>from the Three-Self Church in Nanjing at 95% of regular price and sold them at 75% of regular price<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>Not only <\/span>were they not trying to make a profit; <\/span>they <\/span>intentionally <\/span>spent a lot of their own <\/span>money<\/span> to spread the word of God among <\/span>ordinary people.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Despite the<\/span> charitable nature of their<\/span> activities, the<\/span> ten defendants <\/span>have <\/span>already <\/span>been detained for two years and seven months. <\/span>According to Representative Foley<\/span>, <\/span>Evangelist <\/span>Wang <\/span>Honglan<\/span>, <\/span>the oldest defendant, <\/span>age 68, has been imprisoned <\/span>for <\/span>a total of five years<\/span>, including reeducation through labor for one year due to her faith<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>The authorities have done everything they can to shame <\/span>Evangelist <\/span>Wang <\/span>Honglan<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201c<\/span>At the trial last <\/span>month,<\/span> she was brought into the courtroom in handcuffs<\/span>, as though she were a dangerous prisoner<\/span>. She was <\/span>repeatedly mistreated <\/span>during the investigation<\/span> and pre-trial process<\/span>. <\/span>In response to police questioning, she explained that<\/span> she had helped many children continue their education and even study abroad<\/span>. The police called her a liar, but d<\/span>uring the trial<\/span> last month<\/span>, <\/span>many <\/span>of the <\/span>parents who<\/span>se children she had helped <\/span>were present in the court room<\/span> to support her<\/span>.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”48546″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]According to Representative Foley, Wang <\/span>Honglan<\/span> said that during the investigation police threatened to imprison her family members if she <\/span>didn’t<\/span> sign statements of confession. \u201cThat\u2019s why she signed everything,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>, who believes the forced nature of the confessions are the <\/span>reason why<\/span> authorities have not included the video and audio recordings of police interviews with Wang <\/span>Honglan<\/span> in their evidence at the trial.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]According to witnesses, <\/span>Wang <\/span>Honglan<\/span> recounted <\/span>during the trial <\/span>that she <\/span>had not been <\/span>permitted<\/span> to speak to other prisoners <\/span>during her detention <\/span>but <\/span>had been <\/span>forced to <\/span>giv<\/span>e <\/span>massages to others in the detention center<\/span>. \u201cHer hands are still in pain<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]But according to Representative Foley, the authorities\u2019 <\/span>attempts<\/span> to shame Wang <\/span>Honglan<\/span> have <\/span>only resulted in others viewing her with sympathy and respect. \u201c<\/span>Her fellow <\/span>prisoners came to respect her <\/span>as they saw the <\/span>genuineness of her faith,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cAt the trial, when her attorney asked her about her religious beliefs, <\/span>she recited the Apostle’s Creed<\/span>, though court officials interrupted her.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]According to <\/span>Representative Foley<\/span>, <\/span>attorneys for the defendants have built their case around the selflessness of the Christians. \u201c<\/span>The<\/span> defense attorneys<\/span> recommended the dismissal of <\/span>all <\/span>charges, saying th<\/span>at the defendants are on trial for their <\/span>good deeds, not crimes,\u201d <\/span>notes Representative Foley<\/span>. \u201cOne of the attorneys<\/span> told the court, <\/span>\u2018<\/span>We are all beneficiaries of the Holy Bible. <\/span>Perhaps many<\/span> Christians\u2019 Holy Bible<\/span>s were<\/span> subsidized by Wang <\/span>Honglan<\/span> and other defendants. They have paid a great price for this, and the lawyers urge everyone not to forget them.\u2019<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”48551″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”Wang Honglan, 68, one of the main defendants in the case of subsidizing the discounted re-selling of Three-Self Church Bibles in Hohhot City in Inner Mongolia, China.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%23000000|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The ten defendants <\/span>were arrested and charged with <\/span>illegal business operations on April 14, 2021. <\/span>Wang <\/span>Honglan<\/span>, <\/span>her nephew <\/span>Wang <\/span>Jiale<\/span> and her co-workers <\/span>Liu Minna and Ban Yanhong were identified as the main defendants, with the prosecution recommending a sentence of 10 to 15 years. <\/span>Wang <\/span>Honglan\u2019s<\/span> 73-year-old husband Ji Heying<\/span>, <\/span>their second son Ji <\/span>Guolong<\/span>, and co-workers<\/span> Yang Zhijun, Liu Wei, Zhang Wang, and Li Chao are <\/span>named as <\/span>secondary offenders, <\/span>with the prosecution recommending sentences of varying length<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The prosecutor<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s office <\/span>claim<\/span>s<\/span> the group <\/span>has <\/span>been <\/span>responsible for<\/span> more than <\/span>40 million <\/span>CNY <\/span>(<\/span>approximately <\/span>$5.6 million <\/span>USD<\/span>)<\/span> of Bible sales.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Representative Foley says that a<\/span>fter <\/span>a<\/span>n initial<\/span> five<\/span>–<\/span>day pre-trial meeting in January 2022, COVID-related delays <\/span>prevented further pre-trial work from continuing until <\/span>March 20 of this year, <\/span>while the defendants <\/span>have had to remain <\/span>in prison. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>The <\/span>trial <\/span>was <\/span>initially scheduled for May 9<\/span>, but <\/span>was<\/span> postponed several times,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201c<\/span>D<\/span>espite all the delays,<\/span> the defendants have never <\/span>once <\/span>shouted or lost control<\/span> of their tempers<\/span>. The <\/span>attorney says <\/span>they are exemplary Christians.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”48549″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”Notice of the Bible discounters\u2019 trial, as issued by the court.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%23000000|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]According to Representative Foley, several attorneys are defending the Christians. \u201c<\/span>Despite the clear innocence of <\/span>Evangelist Wang <\/span>Honglan<\/span> and her co-defendants <\/span>and the groundless charges against them<\/span>, they have <\/span>already <\/span>been <\/span>held in prison for several years<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>. \u201c<\/span>We <\/span>pray for <\/span>the Lord to bring this trial to a speedy and just conclusion, where the Lord and his servants are vindicated. But if it pleases the Lord and serves his eternal purpose for them to continue to make this witness for him in court and in prison, then let us pray for the Lord to empower their witness and to sustain them in any further suffering they must bear in his name.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Individuals interested in learning about or supporting Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u2019s work in partnership with persecuted Christians in China can visit <\/span>www.vomkorea.com\/en\/china<\/span><\/span><\/a> or give via electronic transfer to:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

KB Bank: 463501-01-243303<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Account Holder: (<\/span>\uc0ac<\/span>)<\/span>\uc21c\uad50\uc790\uc758\uc18c\ub9ac<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Please note \u201cChina\u201d on the transfer.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”48544″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”The case of ten Christians in Hohhot City, Inner Mongolia, China went to trial last month after nearly three years of pre-trial delays. The Christians are facing …","protected":false},"author":659,"featured_media":48542,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[857,235,869,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-russian-special","category-special-column","category-china-special","category-vomk-report"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en","zh","ru"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"zh":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/659"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48552"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48556,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48552\/revisions\/48556"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}