Arrest, torture, extra-judicial killings in China and harassment abroad continue to target devotees of the church. Their asylum request in democratic countries should be granted.
by Bitter Winter
Information laboriously obtained and verified by the specialized daily magazine “Bitter Winter” confirmed that in October 2024, 648 members of The Church of Almighty God (CAG) were arrested in the Jilin province, in China. Most of those arrested were women, and there are credible reports that several of them were tortured and sexually molested by police officers. Two female devotees, Wang Yuxia, 61, and Wang Fuhua, 49, died because of the torture.
In February 2025, the CAG released its yearly report on persecution. It noted that in August 2023, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission issued a secret directive for a three-year “Tough Battle” against CAG, starting in 2024. As a result, from January 2024, nationwide investigations led to mass arrests, particularly from June onward. At least 19,053 devotees were arrested in the year 2024, and 2,175 were sentenced, including 168 to seven or more years, the longest penalty being 14 years. At least 24 CAG members died in 2024 due to persecution.
Obviously, the yearly report is a document coming from the CAG itself. However, “Bitter Winter” regards its data as reliable, based also on its constant monitoring of Chinese media and public security press releases and announcements, which frequently report on mass arrests and heavy sentences against CAG members.
Founded in 1991 and with several million members, the CAG is the Christian new religious movement most persecuted in China. A press release by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security of February 13, 2025, confirmed that the repression of group banned in China as “xie jiao” (“organizations spreading heterodox teachings”) had increased in 2024 and had mostly targeted the CAG together with Falun Gong. The press release also acknowledged that such groups, notwithstanding the massive repression, are “growing.”
A new alarming development is the continuous surveillance and harassment of CAG refugees in democratic countries. “Bitter Winter” followed by general mainline Italian media revealed in October 2024 that a website called Da Ai Wang, likely connected with Chinese intelligence, had illegally obtained and published names and details of CAG asylum seekers in Italy. The same website has published similar lists of CAG asylum seekers in the United States and South Korea.
On January 13, 2025, the Section of Perugia of the Italian Territorial Commission for Recognizing the Status of Refugee, rendered the first decision on the case of an asylum seeker whose name had appeared in the Da Ai Wang list. Although his application for asylum had been previously rejected, this time it was granted, based on the persuasive argument that being included in the Da Ai Wang list meant that the Chinese authorities were aware that he was a CAG member and, if deported back to China, he would be arrested and persecuted. As acknowledged by several court decisions, China constantly monitors CAG refugees abroad and spares no effort to identify them, particularly if they participate in public events or appear in CAG videos.
In fact, once somebody is known as a member of the CAG, if s/he returns or is deported to China s/he faces arrest and torture. This is not a private opinion of scholars or human rights activists. The United Nations Committee Against Torture in a landmark decision rendered on July 27, 2021, against Switzerland ruled that if persons known to be members of CAG are deported to China from the countries where they have sought asylum they are “at risk of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
We live in a difficult moment of international history. Unsolved conflicts multiply the persecutions and the number of refugees, and even well-intentioned democratic states feel the fatigue of dealing with so many cases.
However, for CAG members being identified as such by the Chinese authorities and, if they are abroad, being deported back to China involves a direct risk of torture, rape, and possibly death.
We urge international organizations and authorities in democratic countries to include the case of the massive persecution of tens of thousands of CAG members in any conversation with China about human rights.
We also urge democratic countries to generously grant asylum to CAG refugees. No matter how difficult the international situation may be, denying asylum to those who risk their life because of their faith in their country and returning victims to their executioners is something civilized countries that cherish the value of liberty and democracy should never allow themselves to do.
Alessandro Amicarelli, President, FOB – European Federation for Freedom of Belief
Ivan Arjona-Pelado, President, Fundación para la Mejora de la Vida, la Cultura y la Sociedad
Luigi Berzano, Professor, University of Torino, President, Observatory of Religious Pluralism
Francesco Curto, President, Fedinsieme [Faiths Together]
Raffaella Di Marzio, Managing Director, LIREC – Center for Studies on Freedom of Religion, Belief, and Conscience
Willy Fautré, Co-founder and Director, HRWF – Human Rights Without Frontiers
Holly Folk, Professor, Western Washington University, Bellingham
Massimo Introvigne, Co-founder and Managing Director, CESNUR – Center for Studies on New Religions
Camelia Marin, Deputy Director, Soteria International
Tienchi Martin-Liao, Vice- President, International PEN Peace Committee; President, Sino Euro Voices; Honorary President of Independent Chinese PEN
Hans Noot, President, Gerard Noodt Foundation of Freedom of Religion or Belief
Susan Palmer, Professor, Concordia University, Montreal
Pan Yongzhong, Chief Editor, Sino Euro Voices; Convener and Secretary General, Democratic China Front Headquarters.
Marco Respinti, Director-in-charge, Bitter Winter
Aaron Rhodes, President, FOREF – Forum for Religious Freedom Europe
Benedict Rogers, Deputy Chair, UK Conservative Party Human Rights Commission and co-founder, Hong Kong Watch
Eric Roux, Chairman, EIFRF – European Inter-Religious Forum for Religious Freedom
Rosita Šorytė, President, ORLIR – International Observatory of Religious Liberty of Refugees
Thierry Valle, President, CAP-LC – Coordination des Associations et des Particuliers pour la Liberté de Conscience
Maria Vardé, Institute of Anthropological Sciences, Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, University of Buenos Aires
René Wadlow, President, Association of World Citizens
Catherine Wessinger, Professor, Loyola University, New Orleans
Donald Westbrook, Lecturer, San José State University, San José, California
Sheng Xue, journalist and human rights activist, Toronto, Canada
Peter Zoehrer, Executive Director, FOREF – Forum for Religious Freedom Europe
source: Bitter Winter
