The pastor of a China state-run church called Pyongyang Three-Self Patriotic Movement Church who protested against the cross-removal campaign in Zhejiang province was released this week after being imprisoned for the last eight months, China Aid reported.
Zhang Chongzhu was detained in September 2015, and accused of "stealing, spying, buying, or illegally providing state secrets or intelligence to entities outside China."
The same charge was applied to a human rights lawyer, Zhang Kai, who along with Chongzhu was scheduled to meet with US Ambassador-at-Large David Saperstein, a day before they were arrested.
Zhang Chongzhu remained under residential surveillance at an undisclosed location.
Residential surveillance in China either implies confining an accused at his home, or at a place sanctioned by authorities about which no information is provided to media. Those charged with serious crimes against the state are relegated to residential surveillance at unknown places.
Article 73 of the Criminal Procedure Law says: "Where, for a crime suspected to endanger State security, a crime involving terrorist activities and a crime involving a significant amount of bribes, residential surveillance at the domicile of the criminal suspect or defendant may impede the investigation, it may"¦be enforced at a designated place of residence.'
Zhang's wife told Radio Free Asia that such charges against him were "ridiculous."
"They are saying it's for gathering and leaking state secrets or some such thing. I think this is too ridiculous for words," she said. "But we are powerless to do anything; we can't sue the government," she said. "All we can do is pray."
Zhang had spoken publicly against the cross-demolition campaign for over a year before he was arrested.
Churches in Zhejiang have openly protested against the demolition of crosses and churches, which the authorities say is to enforce building standards and beautification of city.
Church congregations in the city of Wenzhou, also called "China's Jerusalem," have written open letters to authorities, sung Christian hymns in front of security forces, and worn T-shirts with crosses to protest government campaign.
Many churches were demolished for not meeting changing regulations of the state, and over 1,800 crosses have been removed.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has placed China under the category of "countries of particular concern" in its 2016 annual report. Such countries are classified as those in which the "governments either engaged in or tolerated "particularly severe' violations of religious freedom."
The Chinese government conspicuously took steps since 2014 to suppress religious freedom in its efforts to maintain communal order based on socialism. Most of the persecution of authorities was directed towards Christian groups, as they sought to put pastors and Christian lawyers behind bars for protesting against government campaign of razing churches and crosses.
Hundreds of protesters were detained in China over the past year, and many of them still remain in judicial custody.
