Olympic Games and Chinese Churches

Chinese brothers were detained while enroute to Church where President and Mrs Bush were worshipping on Sunday, August 10.

Report from BosNewsLife.

Hua Huiqi, 46, and his brother, Hua Huilin, 52, an electrician, were taken into custody while cycling to Kuanjie Protestant church in Beijing at dawn, the brother told reporters hours after he was released.

"Police came to our house last night and told me not to let my brother venture out today. I told him not to go because it's during the Olympic Games and this period is sensitive. My brother was baptised at the church and determined to go. I went along to try to protect him," he added in several statements monitored by BosNewsLife.

Police seized the activist's Bible and cell phone and forced him into a car which sped away, the brother said. He later told Hua Huilin that the activist had escaped when plainclothes police watching him fell asleep, the brother said, adding that Hua Huiqi's whereabouts were unknown.

Religious freedom is enshrined in China's constitution, but the government expects Christians to worship in "patriotic" churches under state control with clergy vetted by the state. Government officials have privately suggested that may be as many as 130 million Christians, including 20 million Catholics, in China, much higher than previous government estimates.

Most of them are believed to worship in underground 'house churches' as they do not want to gather in churches run by the government, such as the one visited by President Bush with first lady Laura Bush. After attending the service, Sunday, August 10, Bush gathered for photos with parishioners on the front steps, reporters said.

"It just goes to show that God is universal," Bush was heard saying. "No state, man or woman should fear the influence of loving religion" — a reference to China's tight control of churches. It was not clear if Bush was aware of Hua's situation.

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