Editing Watchman Nee (section)

==Persecution and imprisonment==
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The rise of the Chinese Communist Party in 1949, with its doctrine of [[state atheism]], caused Christians to come under great persecution.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Daughrity |first1=Dyron B. |title=The Changing World of Christianity: The Global History of a Borderless Religion |date=2010 |publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=978-1-4331-0523-4 |page=181 |language=English}}</ref><ref>Adeney, David. ''China: Christian Students Face the Revolution''. Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press (1973).</ref> False charges and arrests were also brought against many foreign missionaries. Through intensive propaganda campaigns and threats of imprisonment, believers were influenced to accuse one another.<ref name=jones>Jones, Francis P. ''Documents of the Three-self Movement: Source Materials for the Study of the Protestant Church in Communist China''. New York: National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (1963).</ref><ref>Kuhn, Isobel. ''Green Leaf in Drought''. Kent: OMF Books (1958).</ref><ref>Lee, Joseph Tse-Hei. "Watchman Nee and the Little Flock Movement in Maoist China." ''Church History'' 74:1 (2005), 69.</ref>

On April 10, 1952, Watchman Nee was arrested in Shanghai by Public Security officers from [[Manzhouli]], [[Manchuria]] and charged with bribery, theft of state property, tax evasion, cheating on government contracts, and stealing of government economic information. Nee was also "re-educated". On January 11, 1956, there was a nationwide sweep targeting the co-workers and elders in the local churches. Some died in [[Forced labor camp|labor camp]]s, while others faced long prison sentences. On January 18, 1956, the [[State Religious Affairs Bureau Order No. 5|Religious Affairs Bureau]] began twelve days of accusation meetings at the church assembly hall on Nanyang Road in Shanghai, in which many accusations were brought against Nee in large accusation meetings.<ref>Nee, Watchman. ''Gleanings in the Fields of Boaz''. New York: Christian Fellowship Publishers (1987), 117.</ref> On June 21, 1956, Nee appeared before the High Court in Shanghai, where it was announced that he had been [[excommunicate]]d by the elders in the church in Shanghai and found guilty on all charges. He was sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment with reform by labor. Initially, he was detained at [[Tilanqiao Prison]] in Shanghai but was later moved to other locations. Only his wife, Charity, was allowed to visit him.

On January 29, 1956, Public Security took over the Nanyang Road building, and many of Nee's co-workers were arrested, put into isolation, and forced to repudiate Watchman Nee. Some co-workers joined in the accusation of Watchman Nee while others, such as Peace Wang, Ruth Lee, and Yu Chenghua remained silent and were punished with life imprisonment. Following this, mass accusation meetings were held across the country to condemn the "anti-revolutionary sect of Watchman Nee".<ref name=sze>Sze, Newman. ''The Martyrdom of Watchman Nee.'' Culver City: Testimony Publications (1997).</ref><ref>Lee, Joseph Tse-Hei. "Watchman Nee and the Little Flock Movement in Maoist China." ''Church History'' 74:1 (2005).</ref>