Contact: Katherine Cason, 267-210-8278, Katherine@ChinaAid.org; Washington contact, Jenny McCloy, 202-213-0506, Jenny@ChinaAid.org; www.ChinaAid.org, www.MonitorChina.org

BEIJING, Jan. 14 /Christian Newswire/ -- Hua Zaichen, 91, is dying and requested a final meeting with his imprisoned wife, Shuang Shuying, 79, to say farewell, but prison officials refused his request. Authorities say Shuang Shuying is not allowed to leave the prison before February 8, 2009, the end of her two-year sentence. However, officials stated that if her husband died before then, she would be allowed to see his body for 10 minutes and would have to be chained, handcuffed and shackled and wearing her prisoner uniform. She would be transported and monitored by Public Security Bureau officers.
 
Hua Zaichen and Shuang Shuying are Christians and have been persecuted for years by the Chinese government, because of their family's work in caring for the poor and oppressed and allowing persecuted Christians to stay in their home. Shuang Shuying's imprisonment, and the authorities' refusal to allow her a visit with her dying husband, is the latest in a series of attempts to intimidate the family into stopping their Christian activities.
 
Shuang Shuying, was sentenced to two years in prison for "intentional damage of properties" in February 2007 while her son, Pastor Hua Huiqi, was in prison. She was walking to the Public Security Bureau (PSB) office to inquire about her son when a PSB car suddenly drove towards her. She held her cane protectively in front of herself, accidentally striking the vehicle. When she realized the officers were coming after her, she retreated into a government office. The police followed her, and in the scuffle her cane hit a machine in the lobby. The police charged her with "intentional damage of properties." She was sentenced to two years in prison where she remains today. She has  has been ill most of her time in prison and has lost a significant amount of weight.
 
Hua Zaichen hopes the international community will speak out and urges Chinese government officials to grant his request to allow him to see his wife before he dies.
 
Communicate to the Chinese government your concern for Shuang Shuying:
(Please note that the operators for the phone numbers inside China speak Mandarin Chinese only.)
 
Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong,
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC 20008
http://www.china-embassy.org/
Tel: 202-7456743                 
Fax: 202- 588-0032; 202-7457473
Director of Religious Affairs: (202) 328-2512
 
Ms. Wu Aiying, minister of Ministry of Justice of PRC
Tel: +86-10-65205114
Fax: +86 10 8313 9051
E-mail: minister@legalinfo.gov.cn
Address: No. 10, Nan Da Jie, Chaoyangmen, Beijing City, (Zip Code: 100020), CHINA