On 25 February, Pastor Bao Guohua and his wife Xing Wenxiang were convicted of the criminal charges of ‘corruption’ and ‘gathering people to disturb social order’ and sentenced to 14 and 12 years in prison respectively.
Bao, Xing and their son Bao Chenxing were detained on 26 July 2015 and held for six months before being sentenced. In addition to their sentences, the court has ordered that assets totalling 600,000 yuan (approximately £65,000) in value be confiscated from each of them. In addition, Boa has been fined 100,000 yuan and Xing has been fined 90,000 yuan. The corruption charges against them pertain to the alleged embezzling of money from their congregation.
Against demolition
Bao Guohua is pastor of Jinhua Christian Church in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province. He is also a member of the China Christian Council, one of two state-sanctioned associations which oversee Protestantism nationwide. He is one of several pastors from government-approved churches who have spoken out against the demolition of hundreds of crosses in Zhejiang Province since early 2014.
