Their son reports about the difficult life in jail of the Xi’an couple sentenced to seven years for printing Christian books
By Tao Niu
March 26, 2025
Last week, the son of Pastor Chang Yuguang (also known as Chang Yuchun) and his wife Li Chenhui of Xi’an, Shaanxi province, circulated a letter among human rights organizations, excerpts of which we reproduce below.
Pastor Chang and his wife were arrested on July 21, 2020, and charged with “illegal business operations” for printing Christian books without authorization. Their printing company was duly registered with the authorities but religious books require a specific authorization.
On August 19, 2021 the Xi’an Gaoling District Court sentenced them to seven years in jail. On November 15, 2021, the sentence was confirmed by the Appeal Court.
Previously, the son of Pastor Chang had reported that he had been tortured by the police and badly beaten by fellow inmates, who asked for “protection money.” They also connived with the guards as they tried to compel Chang to sign a declaration renouncing his faith. The son alludes to this situation in the letter, when he reports that the authorities refused to examine his injuries resulting from the beatings but transferred him to a somewhat less violent jail area.
Here is the son’s letter:
“I am Chang Shengyi, the eldest son of Pastor Chang Yuguang.
On March 17 , 2025 , we met our mother, Sister Li Chenhui… My mother often feels headaches and dizziness, and even fainted repeatedly when working in the kitchen. She feels dizzy from time to time, and even feels pain when lying down in the wrong posture. It’s just that since my mother first reported this in November 2023, the prison only said that she would queue up for a CT scan, but she has not been examined yet.
We reported the incident to the warden of my mother’s prison area, and she said she would verify it with my mother and determine what to do next.
On March 18, we met my father and were able to hold his hand again through a small window after more than four years. My father has now been transferred to a prison area with relatively low population turnover, so there is no need to worry about him being retaliated against.
The prison also took my father to have his injuries assessed after being beaten. However, because it had been two years, three assessment agencies refused to conduct the assessment, saying that the process was too complicated and the workload was too heavy.
When I saw my parents these two days, they also expressed their special gratitude for everyone’s thoughts and prayers for them. Sometimes they are even notified of receiving some letters or postcards, but unfortunately, because of the faith-related content, they cannot see most of them. They also asked us to wish everyone peace!
Brother Chang Shengyi
March 18, 2025, Xi’an”
Source: bittewinter.org
Comments