BEIJING (BP)--A leader among China's unregistered house churches and his wife have been forced from their home and hounded from shelter to shelter by Chinese authorities since July 6, according to the human rights group China Aid Association. The only explanation given by officials for the couple's treatment was that the pastor "met the Americans and destroyed the harmony of the Beijing Olympic Games."
Bike Zhang, chairman of the Federation House Church and his wife Xie Fenglan were forced to leave their home in Beijing's Chaoyang district by officials of the Public Security Bureau, according to a China Aid Association report July 18. When authorities learned the couple had found shelter in the home of a friend, they forced the Zhangs to leave.
A hotel owner in another district allowed the Zhangs to take up extended residence in his facility but on July 14 officials with the security bureau in...