Washington, August 24, 2017 -

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Ed Royce (R-CA) issued the following statement welcoming Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh – who was sentenced by a Vietnamese court to 11 years in prison for leading a Christian congregation in Vietnam – to his district office in Rowland Heights, California:

“Today is a great day for religious freedom. It is a blessing to greet Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh in person after his release from prison and his family’s safe arrival in the United States. Despite the unthinkable harassment, torture, and imprisonment he suffered under Vietnam’s communist government, Pastor Chinh never lost faith in fighting for the rights of his congregation to worship freely. Pastor Chinh’s sacrifice shines as a beacon of hope and strength to millions around the world who still lack even the most basic of human rights.”  

Background:

Nguyen Cong Chinh is an evangelical pastor originally from the Quang Nam province, and has lived in the Central Highland provinces of Kon Tum and Gia Lai since 1985. Over the past three decades Pastor Chinh has been subjected to beatings and his family was continually harassed for simply practicing their faith.

Following Pastor Nguyen's arrest in 2011, Representative Royce sent a letter to President Truong Tan Sang of Vietnam raising the case of Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh and to Secretary of State John Kerry requesting that Vietnam be returned to the list of countries of particular concern. He also introduced legislation calling on the Department of State to re-list Vietnam as a country of particular concern and to sanction the communist government for its violations of human rights – as well as urging President Obama and President Trump to raise human rights concerns in meetings with leaders of the Vietnamese government.