• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • ABOUT CHINA
    • NEWS
    • TESTIMONIES
    • OP-EDS
    • FEATURED
    • GLOSSARY
    • CHINA PERSECUTION MAP
  • FROM THE WORLD
    • NEWS GLOBAL
    • TESTIMONIES GLOBAL
    • OP-EDS GLOBAL
    • FEATURED GLOBAL
  • INTERVIEWS
  • DOCUMENTS AND TRANSLATIONS
    • DOCUMENTS
    • THE TAI JI MEN CASE
    • TRANSLATIONS
    • EVENTS
  • ABOUT
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
  • TOPICS

Bitter Winter

A magazine on religious liberty and human rights

three friends of winter
Home / China / News China

Harbin: Christian Music School Teachers Awaits Trial

10/19/2022Pan Shan |

Pastor Xu Feng remains in jail. He is accused of teaching religion to minors, although he claims he taught only music.

by Pan Shan

The office of the Procuratorate in Harbin.
The office of the Procuratorate in Harbin. Credits.

In Harbin, the capital of Northern Heilongjiang province, a Christian music school was raided last September in the early morning by the police, and its principal arrested.

Maitzu Shengle Superior School (麦子圣乐高中) is a Christian school for talented young musicians, specialized in choir singing and piano lessons, whose principal is Pastor Xu Feng.

Chinese law prohibits teaching religion to minors. However, the school does not teach religion. It teaches only music, although some of its graduates are sent there by their churches to be trained to sing in church choirs.

In the last few years, following indications by President Xi Jinping himself, provisions against involving minors in any religion-related activities have been interpreted more strictly. Pastor Xu Feng’s home has been raided by the police twice, and his phone has been put under surveillance. Students and their families have also been questioned and harassed by the police.

In the first days of September 2021, the landlord who rents to Pastor Xu the premises where the school operates advised him that the police was preparing a raid.

On September 4, 2021, at 7.00 in the morning, some 35 police officers and bureaucrats from the Religious Affairs and Public Education administrations raided the school, detained all the teachers and students, and confiscated pianos, computers, and other equipment.

The students and other teachers have since been released, but Pastor Xu Feng has been formally arrested for teaching religion to minors. He remains in jail awaiting a trial.

Tagged With: Christian Faith in China

bw-profile
Pan Shan

Uses a pseudonym for security reasons.

Related articles

  • David Lin: China Promises to Free in 2030 American Pastor Detained Since 2006

    David Lin: China Promises to Free in 2030 American Pastor Detained Since 2006

  • Church of the Rock: Wife of Detained Pastor Speaks Out

    Church of the Rock: Wife of Detained Pastor Speaks Out

  • Our Lady of Naju: Catholic New Religious Movement Followers Harassed in Hong Kong

    Our Lady of Naju: Catholic New Religious Movement Followers Harassed in Hong Kong

  • Lisu and Nu Ethnic Minority Christians Arrested in Yunnan

    Lisu and Nu Ethnic Minority Christians Arrested in Yunnan

Keep Reading

  • Pastor Geng Zejun Committed to Trial
    Pastor Geng Zejun Committed to Trial

    The preacher of the Church of the Rock in Shizuishan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, remains in jail and may be sentenced in July.

  • Two Sentenced for Attending a Christian Conference in Malaysia
    Two Sentenced for Attending a Christian Conference in Malaysia

    One year of jail is the penalty for a pastor and a co-worker from Shanxi who went to an event organized by famous evangelist Tang Chongrong

  • Changchun Sunshine Reformed Church Banned in Jilin
    Changchun Sunshine Reformed Church Banned in Jilin

    The raid of August 21 has been followed by a formal notice that Pastor Guo Muyun’s house church is “illegal” and should be liquidated.

  • Covenant Home Church Banned in Shanxi
    Covenant Home Church Banned in Shanxi

    After the detention of four leaders, the authorities decided to liquidate the popular house church. 

Primary Sidebar

Support Bitter Winter

Learn More

Follow us

Newsletter

Most Read

  • Blaming the Victims: The Hamburg Shooting and the Jehovah’s Witnesses by Massimo Introvigne
  • More Uyghur Criticism of Donnie Yen: Wasn’t He More Guilty than Will Smith? by Kok Bayraq
  • The Suicide of the Pink-Haired Girl: How the CCP Exploited a Tragedy by Zhou Kexin
  • Censorship Frenzy: Do Not Search for “2952” in China or You Will Get Into Trouble  by Tan Liwei
  • Russia: Pastor Moskvitin Sentenced to 1.5 Years in Penal Colony for “Brainwashing” by Massimo Introvigne
  • Empowering the Next Generation of Uyghurs to Challenge China’s Genocide by Marco Respinti
  • China’s New Crackdown Targets “Self-Media” by Zhou Kexin

CHINA PERSECUTION MAP -SEARCH NEWS BY REGION

clickable geographical map of china, with regions

Footer

EDITORIAL BOARD

Editor-in-Chief

MASSIMO INTROVIGNE

Director-in-Charge

MARCO RESPINTI

ADDRESS

CESNUR

Via Confienza 19,

10121 Turin, Italy,

Phone: 39-011-541950

E-MAIL

We welcome submission of unpublished contributions, news, and photographs. Each submission implies the authorization for us to edit and publish texts and photographs. We reserve the right to decide which submissions are suitable for publication. Please, write to INFO@BITTERWINTER.ORG Thank you.

Newsletter

LINKS

orlir-logo hrwf-logo cesnur-logo

Copyright © 2023 · Bitter Winter · PRIVACY POLICY· COOKIE POLICY