ASSIST News Service

Three members of a jailed Christian pastor’s family have made an extraordinary escape from China to the United States with the help of an underground network of activists. According Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent for Sky News in Beijing, Zhang Shaojie’s daughter, son-in-law, and one-year-old granddaughter arrived in Dallas, Texas, on Monday after a journey which took them through five countries.
Last week, Pastor Zhang was sentenced at a local court to 12 years in jail for ‘gathering crowds to disturb public order’ and ‘fraud’ after a secret detention spanning seven months. His family, who have spent much of the past seven months in hiding, fearing for their lives, have been smuggled out of China by Christian activists in Texas and with the apparent help of the US government.