Devotees from the Ji’an area of the Taiwan-based religious movement received jail terms up to 4 years and six months.
by Qi Junzao
On November 15, 2020, the People Court of Ji’an prefecture-level city in Jiangxi province sentenced Jin Mei, a female member of the Bloody Holy Spirit (血水圣灵) church, to four and a half years in jail. Other co-defendants were sentenced to shorter jail terms, including Shen Baofeng, Liu Hongxing, Liao Lijun, Wang Yuexiu, Liu Guipei, Zhong Chunlan, Long Quanya, Zou Liying, Yang Hongyun, and Xiao Chunxiang.
The court claimed that the police had uncovered a large network of the Bloody Holy Spirit operating underground in Jiangxi province, with clandestine places of worship in the city of Ji’an, in Taihe county (which is under the administration of Ji’an), and Fuzhou. Retreats were organized in a mountain village in Taihe county.
The Blood and Water of Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit Full Gospel Evangelistic Group (血水圣灵全备福音布道团) is a religious movement founded in Taiwan by Zuo Kun (左坤), aka Moses Tsuo, and popularly known as the Bloody Holy Spirit (血水圣灵). Zuo, who was born in 1930, is a former local leader of the New Testament Church (新约教会), founded by Taiwanese actress Kong Duen-Yee (江端仪, 1923–1966), who separated from the parent organization in August 1988. Zuo claims to be the end-time prophet, sent by God to restore the original Christian church. From Taiwan, the movement spread to China, where it was banned by the CCP and included in the list of xie jiao in 1995.
According to the decision, the 34-year-old Jin Mei was the leader of the Bloody Holy Spirit in Ji’an, a large city with a population of almost 5 million, and possibly in the whole Jiangxi province. She had joined the movement in 2012, and had been identified as a member of a xie jiao and arrested in 2013. She had promised to leave the movement and released after ten days. Rather than leaving the Bloody Holy Spirit, she decided to work full time for it, and since 2017 became a local leader and started living underground.
According to the decision, Jin Mei was able to develop a network of shops operated by members and safe houses throughout the province, and raised significant sums of money for the movement. Under Jin Mei, Liu Hongxing was the leader in Taihe county, while Shen Baofeng, Wang Yuexiu, Liu Guipei, and Zhong Chunlan spread the movement in Fuzhou.
As a local leader of a xie jiao, Jin Mei escaped with a comparatively lenient sentence. Normally, local leaders are sentenced to seven to ten years in jail, or more. According to the court, she signed in jail a letter renouncing her faith in the Bloody Holy Spirit, which explained the reduced sentence. Often, these letters are signed after months of torture. Jin Mei was arrested in Taihe county on June 8, 2020, and her arrest was formalized on July 13. She remained in pre-trial detention until November 15.
