The term for keeping him in jail without a verdict has expired. Yet the “Christian anti-COVID-masks man” has not been released.
by Li Xiaosi
We hear every day about the beauty of “Xi Jinping’s thought on the rule of law,” yet the rule of law is ignored in China when it suits Xi Jinping’s party.
Take the case of preacher Chang Hao. In April 2023, Brother Chang Hao’s small rural church in Zhenxiong County, under the administration of Zhaotong City, Yunnan Province, was raided by the police who took away Bibles, Christian books, and the anti-COVID masks inscribed with verses from the Bible he distributed, which had become popular in the area and had especially disturbed the authorities.
On November 7, 2023, the prosecutor presented the case against Brother Chang Hao to the Zhenxiong County People’s Court. The date is important. Under Chinese law, from this moment a verdict should normally be rendered within two months, and at any rate not later than within three months. The term expired in February. Chang Hao who is in the Zhenxiong County Detention Center had a document stating that he would be detained, absent a verdict, until February 10. Yet, there is no verdict and Chang Hao is still in jail.
His family reports that the case is becoming increasingly strange. Chang Hao has a lawyer, who has been refused copies of the file twice. It is true that terms of detention can be extended in exceptional cases or for national security reasons. Chang Hao is prosecuted for “publishing and forwarding false information on the Internet, inappropriate speeches, causing serious chaos in public order, and having a bad social impact.” This is unfortunately common for Christian pastors and preachers who are not part of the government-controlled Three Self Church. The case is not in any way special or unusual.
Chang Hao is officially recognized as a disabled person because of his diabetes. He should also take care of a wife and an 86-year-old mother, both with serious health problems. His lawyer reported that in jail he is compelled to take cold showers in the harsh winter weather. It seems that the popularity of the anti-COVID masks inscribed with Bible verses so much disturbed the CCP that they have decided to make an example of Chang Hao—no matter how irregular his prosecution is.