BEIJING — Chinese authorities have detained a Christian reporter who denounced the destruction of a church in eastern Zhejiang province, prompting an outcry from Chinese Christian dissidents calling it a test case for religious rights.
Zan Aizong, a recently converted Christian and reporter for the China Ocean News in the Zhejiang capital, Hangzhou, began a week's detention on Friday evening after he wrote reports on the Internet decrying the demolition of the church.
"This is one of the biggest religious freedom cases for some time," Yu Jie, a Beijing-based Christian writer who is close to Zan, told Reuters. "A large church was demolished and now over a dozen Christians are detained or arrested just for voicing their rights."
Zan issued a public letter to Hangzhou's police chief this week denouncing the demolition of the church in Xiaoshan, a booming satellite city of Hangzhou.
He was detained on charges of "spreading rumours harmful to society", Li Baiguang, a Beijing-based Christian legal activist, told Reuters.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement decrying Zan's detention as the latest in China's "massive crackdown on reporting sensitive topics like religion and public protest".
As many as 3,000 Christian residents of Xiaoshan clashed with police on July 29 after authorities began demolishing the church.
The official news agency said the church, which was under construction, had no official approval and two people were arrested for blocking its destruction.
In his letter, Zan said that about 50 people were still in detention because of the protest, and many had been injured, 10 with broken bones. Other Christian activists said as many as 20 or so are still detained.
"Ensure human rights under the Constitution," Zan wrote. "We call for a responsible government that will quickly reveal the historic truth of the Xiaoshan incident, wipe out its pernicious effects and tolerate religious faith."
Hangzhou government offices did not answer calls on Saturday, and police declined comment.
China's government says citizens are free to attend churches, mosques and temples that have official approval and stay in political limits set by the ruling Communist Party.
Xiaoshan is home to tens of thousands of members of a conservative Protestant stream with roots in the area going back over a century, many of them private entrepreneurs wary of the state, said Yu.
In May, Yu and Li met and prayed with born-again U.S. President George W. Bush, who has made calls for religious freedom a centrepiece of his meetings with Chinese leaders.
"This is a violation of religious rights, and if we don't speak out these violations will never end," Li said of Zan's detention.
