Chinese Christians Imprisoned for Aiding North Korean Refugees

Andrew Pauley

2:30pm

9-4-09

Two Chinese citizens, both Christians, have been charged by Chinese officials, in Erlianhaote City, with aiding North Korean refugees fleeing to South Korea through China. Miss Li Mingshun and Mr. Zhang Yonghu are the two people charged with this crime. Li Mingshun was found guilty of “human smuggling across the border” and received a 10 year sentence. While Zhang Yonghu was found guilty of organizing transportation for the refugees to Inner Mongolia, and received a 7 year sentence. The two were part of a large Chinese Christian organization known as ChinaAid. A group of many Christians helping to provide food, shelter, and transportation for refugees crossing Northern Chinese provinces into Mongolia, where neutral state laws permit residents to seek asylum in South Korea. ChinaAid said the verdict underscores years of continued persecution for North Koreans in China, who have been denied refugee-status by the Chinese government and repatriated in violation of the UNHCR Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, which China signed in 1982. The costs of repatriation are dire. Being such that, refugees face charges of treason upon their return to their home country, punishable by death, detention and/or lifelong imprisonment in labor camps. Many Chinese and Korean Christians, like Li Mingshun and Zhang Yonghu, work with underground networks to aid these refugees as they seek freedom from persecution. To then only to be arrested and charged as criminals. President of ChinaAid Xiqiu ‘Bob’ Fu commented on Li and Zhang’s sentences: “I am shocked at how the Chinese government treats its own humanitarian workers. They are innocent! We must urge the international community to voice their concerns for the persecuted North Korean refugees and the humanitarian workers who serve them in their time of need.” He further calls for the Chinese government to honor the Li family’s appeal, find them innocent under China’s own laws, and release Li Mingshun and Zhang Yonghu.

My response to this is quite simple. If China is against the rule of North Korea and its values and morals shown by its leaders, then why is it a crime to help people escape that inhumane torture. When we read back and think about how Northern citizens in the U.S. helped slaves travel to be free in Canada do we think that those people should have been sentenced to prison for their acts of compassion and help?

ChinaAid has requested the international community to contact the Erlianhaote City People’s Procuratorate and Government to urge them to release Li Mingshun and Zhang Yonghu and to respect and uphold human rights for North Korean refugees.

The contact details can be found at the homepage of the ChinaAid website: www.chinaaid.org

Citation and Link to text:

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/outrage.as.chinese.christians.are.imprisoned.for.aiding.north.korean.refugees/24115.htm