2015-01-23
Authorities tear down a cross from a Protestant church in Hangzhou’s Dingqiao township, Dec. 19, 2014.
Photo courtesy of China Aid
Authorities in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang on Friday detained and questioned a Hong Kong journalist who went to cover a story about the demolition of church crosses in the region.
Jiang Yannan, a reporter for the Hong Kong-based Chinese-language news magazine Asiaweek told RFA’s Mandarin Service that she was detained briefly in Pingyang county near Wenzhou, a city that has been dubbed “China’s Jerusalem” because of a high concentration of Christian believers there.
“I was here to do some reporting and interviews on the demolition of crosses [on Christian churches] … They didn’t hold me for very long. They just stopped me from interviewing people.”
She said police had continued to monitor her movements and contact her interviewees since her release after a brief period of detention at a nearby police station.
“I didn’t pay any attention to them, but they asked me what I was doing,” Jiang said. “They have been following me and bothering the people I am trying to interview.”
She added: “I did a lot of interviews on this trip, and this time the local authorities are being much tougher [on journalists].”
Jiang, who arrived in Pingyang earlier this week, told RFA in a later interview that she had already left the province.
“I am no longer in Zhejiang. I have left the area,” she said. “They were following me the whole time.”
“But it’s not convenient for me to give interviews right now,” Jiang said, before hanging up.
Beijing-based rights lawyer Chen Jiangang, who has been following religious issues in Wenzhou, said he had received a phone call from Jiang earlier on Friday asking for help.
“She called me at around 1:00 p.m., when she was in the police car,” Chen said.
“She said the police had dragged her into their vehicle against her will, and driven her to the police station and asked to see her ID,” he said.
“She waited around at the police station for about 10-20 minutes, and then they released her,” he said, adding: “I am in touch with her, and she could be subjected to further restrictions by police at any time.”
Demolition campaign
According to the U.S.-based Christian rights group China Aid, hundreds of Protestant churches in Zhejiang have been targeted for demolition in the past year.
The actions against churches in Zhejiang are all connected to the province’s “Three Rectifications and One Demolition” campaign, which claims to target all illegal structures, the group said in a recent report on its website.
