Chinese Christian Bookseller Sentenced to Prison, Customers Tracked Down

(Unsplash/Alex Bello)

A Chinese Christian who operates an online bookstore was sentenced to seven years in prison for selling religious material that wasn't approved by the Communist government.

International Christian Concern (ICC) reports that Chen Yu was charged with "illegal business operations" on Sep. 27. In addition to receiving a $29,450 fine, the Linhai City Public Security Bureau plans to destroy 12,864 Christian books from his bookstore.

Chen, who ran his bookstore in Zhejiang province's Taizhou city, was arrested on Sep. 1. Local police opened an investigation to locate his previous customers, then seized the books they bought.

Gina Goh, ICC's Regional Manager for Southeast Asia, said, "The sentence for Mr. Chen Yu shows how the Chinese government is increasingly frightened by all things religious. From religious symbols, Chinese couplets, to Christian books, anything that features religious elements is no longer tolerated by the Chinese Communist Party.

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Reprinted with permission from CBN.com. Copyright The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc. All rights reserved.


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