08/04/2019 China (International Christian Concern) – Seven employees at Shenzhen Cedar Electronics in China’s Guangdong province were arrested on July 22 for “illegal business operations,” according to Father Francis Liu from Chinese Christian fellowship of Righteousness.
Based on its website, the company was established in 2009 (preceded by Cedar Evangelism Division) and specializes in the development, production, and promotion of biblical audio products, and their accessories.
Human rights lawyer Wen Yu shared that he met with one of the employees with the last name Hu at a police station, after they were arrested for selling audio Bibles. The local police told him that their case actually was put forth by the Public Security in Shenzhen city, but they did take Wen’s application for bail pending further investigation.
The company’s audio Bible players can still be found and purchased at several Chinese online shopping websites such as Tmall as of now, but it is hard to say how long this will last.
China has intensified its crackdown against Christianity in recent years. Beijing not only targets churches and believers, now Christian publications are under unprecedented scrutiny – the state-sanctioned Christian organizations were asked to re-translate the Bible, sales of printed Bibles are banned in major online shopping sites, and Christian materials are often confiscated when the police raid on churches.
