Christian Group Refuses to Leave China Airport Until Bibles Are Returned

19-08-2008

Beijing, Aug 18, 2008 (CNA).- Four
members of a Christian group from the United States are refusing to
leave a Chinese airport until authorities return the 300 Bibles
confiscated from them.

The
four members of the Wyoming-based group Vision Beyond Borders, which
supplies Bibles and other Christian material to people in China and
other countries, arrived in the southwestern city of Kunming on Sunday.
The Bibles they were carrying were confiscated after customs officials
discovered them during an X-ray scan of their luggage, CNN reports.

Pat
Klein, director of Vision Beyond Borders, said the group distributes
the Bibles through a local shop owner in Kunming. Klein said he has
been bringing Bibles into China for 21 years but did not know he was
breaking Chinese law.

According
to CNN, Chinese law prohibits bringing printed religious material into
the country exceeding the amount needed for personal use.
Chinese officials told the group members they had broken the law and
repeatedly asked them to leave the airport, but the group spent the
night there, Klein said, adding that the customs agents have not been
antagonistic.

Klein said the Vision Beyond Borders members would not leave until their Bibles are returned.

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