View source for Bob Fu

{{Short description|Chinese American pastor (born 1968)}}
{{Neutrality|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Bob Fu
| native_name        = Fu Xiqiu<br />傅希秋
| image              = Bob Fu 2018 (cropped).jpg
| caption            = Fu in 2018
| birth_date         = {{birth year and age|1968}}
| birth_place        = [[Shandong]], China
| spouse             = Heidi Fu (Bochun Cai)
| children           = 3
| occupation         = [[Pastor]], [[activist]]
| nationality        = {{US}}
| education          = [[Liaocheng University]]<br/>[[Westminster Theological Seminary]]
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
|c=傅希秋
|p=Fù Xīqiū
|mi={{IPAc-cmn|f|u|4|-|x|i|1|q|iu|1}}
|w=Fu4 Hsih1-ch'iu1
}}
'''Bob Fu''' ({{zh|c=傅希秋|p=Fù Xīqiū}}) is a [[Chinese American|Chinese-American]] pastor.<ref name="NPR"/> In 2002, he founded [[ChinaAid.org|ChinaAid]], which provides [[legal aid]] to [[Christianity in China|Christians in China]], and has been its president since then.<ref name="Reuters"/> Bob Fu was born in [[Shandong]] in 1968 and studied [[English literature]] at [[Liaocheng University]] in the 1980s. He converted to Christianity after an American teacher gave him a biography of a Chinese Christian convert.<ref name="WSJ"/> After his studies, Fu taught English at the [[Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party]] in Beijing while participating in the [[house church]] movement.<ref name="PH"/> In 1996, Bob Fu and his family emigrated to Hong Kong and then the United States, after his wife became pregnant without government permission to have a child.<ref name="NBC"/>{{Dead link|date=April 2023}}{{Dubious|date=April 2023}} Fu founded the China Aid Association in [[Philadelphia]] in 2002, but moved its headquarters to [[Midland, Texas]], in 2004.<ref name="Reuters"/> Fu is also known for his role in helping negotiate [[barefoot lawyer]] [[Chen Guangcheng]]'s immigration to the United States. In this sense, he has been described as a "liaison" between oppressed groups in China and foreign governments or media that can help them.<ref name="WSJ"/>
==Biography==
===Early life and education===
Fu Xiqiu was born in 1968 in [[Shandong]] province and started studying [[English literature]] at [[Liaocheng University]] in 1987.<ref name="FP"/> During his time at university, Fu engaged in political activism<ref name="Reuters">{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-usa-chinaaid-idUSBRE8420Y620120503|title=Texas pastor drives support for Chinese dissident|first=Chris|last=Baltimore|location=Midland, Texas|work=Reuters|access-date=2017-06-30|archive-date=2014-11-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141126065330/http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/03/us-china-usa-chinaaid-idUSBRE8420Y620120503|url-status=live}}</ref> and started the process of joining the [[Chinese Communist Party]], with the intention of becoming a government official.<ref name="WSJ"/> His American professors would preach to students from a pocket bible after class.<ref name="FP">{{cite web |last=Fu |first=Bob |date=2012-05-14 |title=Jesus Loves China, Too: Why I'm working to save my homeland, one soul at a time |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/05/14/jesus_loves_china_too |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140915040537/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/05/14/jesus_loves_china_too |archive-date=2014-09-15 |access-date=2017-03-05 |work=[[Foreign Policy]]}}</ref> Fu organized a group of students from his university to participate in the [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre|Tiananmen Square protests of 1989]] in Beijing. When he returned to Shandong, he was investigated but not detained, and ultimately decided not to join the Party.<ref name="WSJ"/> That year, an American English teacher gave him a biography of [[Xi Shengmo]], a 19th-century Chinese Christian convert.<ref name="WSJ"/> After reading the book, Fu decided to convert to Christianity as well.<ref name="FP"/>
After completing his studies, Fu taught English at the [[Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party]] in Beijing while his wife Bochun Cai (b. 1966) studied at the [[Renmin University of China]].<ref name="PH"/> The couple evangelized widely, starting a campus church and secret [[bible school]] in [[Fangshan District]], Beijing.<ref name="PH"/><ref name="AI"/> On May 9, 1996, the couple was reportedly detained for running a Christian training center in [[Fangshan District]], Beijing, under a business license<ref name="AI">{{cite web |date=July 1996 |title=Document - People's Republic of China: Women in China: Detained, victimized but mobilized |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa17/080/1996/en/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122064832/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa17/080/1996/en/ |archive-date=2018-11-22 |access-date=2013-06-24 |publisher=[[Amnesty International]]}}</ref> and for illegal evangelizing.<ref name="PH">{{cite news |last=Odom |first=Maida |date=1998-11-15 |title=In Memory of Persecution Today Is The Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church Abroad. Victims' Stories Are Grim. A New Law May Help |url=http://articles.philly.com/1998-11-15/living/25732745_1_persecution-prayer-international-day |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102165219/http://articles.philly.com/1998-11-15/living/25732745_1_persecution-prayer-international-day |archive-date=2016-01-02 |access-date=2013-06-23 |work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]}}</ref> On July 8, they left detention after having been beaten, starved, mistreated, and witnessed horribly cruel treatment of other prisoners, and were warned not to engage with foreigners.{{Dubious|Factual inaccuracies and prevalent misquoting|date=April 2023|reason=Citation reads:
Beijing police have released two Christians after holding them in custody for about two months, sources say.
Bob Fu Xiqiu and his wife, Heidi Cai Bochun, were released on July 8 after being held by police for their involvement in a Christian training centre near Beijing.
*One source said the couple were apparently treated well while in custody.*
After their release, police informed Mr Fu's workplace, the Communist Party School, that he could continue his teaching job and the two could keep their living quarters there.
In addition, they have not been pressed into paying fines.
While they were being held at a detention centre in Fengtai district, Beijing police had searched at least two churches in the city but found no concrete evidence against them...}} They were put under house arrest. Authorities said that Fu could keep his job and stay in the dormitory at the Communist Party school, and would not have to pay any fines, but he was subsequently fired and his wife was not able to graduate, although she was weeks away from being able to.<ref name="SCMP">{{cite news |last=Kwan |first=Daniel |date=2012-07-14 |title=Christians freed in 'good health' |url=http://www.scmp.com/article/167833/christians-freed-good-health |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808183831/https://www.scmp.com/article/167833/christians-freed-good-health |archive-date=2018-08-08 |access-date=2013-06-23 |work=[[South China Morning Post]]}}</ref>
===Emigration and activism===
That same year, Fu's wife became pregnant, in violation of the [[one-child policy]]{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}. Rather than face the penalty, they emigrated to the then-British colony of Hong Kong, where Cai gave birth to Daniel Fu ({{zh|c=傅博恩|p=Fù Bó'ēn|links=no}}).<ref name="Fiske">{{cite news |last1=Hennessy-Fiske |first1=Molly |last2=Simon |first2=Richard |date=2012-05-05 |title=Texas pastor a key player in Chen Guangcheng case |url=https://www.latimes.com/world/la-xpm-2012-may-05-la-na-bob-fu-20120506-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121209160557/http://articles.latimes.com/2012/may/05/nation/la-na-bob-fu-20120506 |archive-date=2012-12-09 |access-date=2013-06-23 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> The [[National Association of Evangelicals]] successfully lobbied the Clinton White House to get Fu [[political asylum]] in the United States,<ref name="PH"/> where he immigrated in 1997, settling in [[Philadelphia]]<ref name="WSJ"/> and attending nearby [[Westminster Theological Seminary]].<ref name="FP"/> In July 1998, Fu and Cai moved to neighboring [[Glenside, Pennsylvania]], to live with another Chinese family in a house purchased by an anonymous donor. They adopted the names "Bob" and "Heidi" at this time.<ref name="PH"/>
Fu founded the [[evangelism|evangelical]]<ref name="Fiske"/> China Aid Association in 2002 in response to a crackdown on the [[Hubei]]-based unauthorized "South China Church" ({{zh|s=华南教会|p=Huánán Jiàohuì|links=no}}).<ref name="NBC">{{cite news |url=http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/04/30/11474717-who-is-fu-chinese-exile-is-gods-double-agent? |title=Who is Fu? Chinese exile is 'God's double agent' |first=Kari |last=Huus |date=2012-04-30 |access-date=2013-06-23 |work=NBC News |archive-date=2013-06-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130612022654/http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/04/30/11474717-who-is-fu-chinese-exile-is-gods-double-agent? |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="CP">{{cite news |url= http://www.christianpost.com/news/underground-chinese-church-leader-freed-after-10-years-70394/ |title= Underground Chinese Church Leader Freed After 10 Years |date= 2012-02-27 |access-date= 2013-06-23 |first= Stoyan |last= Zaimov |archive-date= 2012-04-23 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120423105130/http://www.christianpost.com/news/underground-chinese-church-leader-freed-after-10-years-70394/ |url-status= live }}</ref> He and other Christians raised enough money for 58 lawyers for the defense, seeding prominent stories about the trial in ''[[The New York Times]]'' and ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]''.<ref name="NBC"/> The legal charge of "undermining enforcement of the law" was dropped due to insufficient evidence.<ref name="CP"/> China Aid enlists thousands of volunteers in China who are available to carry out activities called on by Fu through the internet, telephone, and letters.<ref name="WSJ">{{cite news |date=2012-06-01 |title=Bob Fu: The Pastor of China's Underground Railroad |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303640104577438562289689498 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012233955/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303640104577438562289689498 |archive-date=2023-10-12 |access-date=2013-06-23 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |location=Midland, Texas}}</ref> It also pays the salaries of 30 defense lawyers.<ref name="NYT"/>
Fu has also taught at [[Oklahoma Wesleyan University]].<ref>[http://www.frc.org/university/freedom-and-christianity-in-china FRC Speaker Series] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170213050741/http://www.frc.org/university/freedom-and-christianity-in-china |date=2017-02-13 }} ''www.frc.org: Family Research Council: Freedom and Christianity in China'', 24 April 2013</ref><ref>[http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/chinelgo36&div=39&id=&page= 36 Chinese L. & Gov't 1 (2003)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308043257/http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/chinelgo36&div=39&id=&page= |date=2017-03-08 }} ''heinonline.org'', accessed 8 June 2022</ref>
===Midland operations===
After being invited to visit [[Midland, Texas]], by a fellow pastor, he moved his operations there in 2004.<ref name="WSJ"/> According to ''[[The New York Times]]'', Fu maintains "close association with Republicans and evangelical Christians".<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |last=Jacobs |first=Andrew |date=2012-05-12 |title=Echoing Out of Texas, Chinese Voice of Dissent for Religious Freedom |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/us/bob-fu-echoing-out-of-texas-is-a-chinese-voice-of-dissent.html?pagewanted=all |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130613150531/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/us/bob-fu-echoing-out-of-texas-is-a-chinese-voice-of-dissent.html?pagewanted=all |archive-date=2013-06-13 |access-date=2013-06-23 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> He has prayed in English in American churches, and has cultivated contacts in evangelical groups in Texas.<ref name="NPR">{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2012/05/21/153214450/for-chinese-dissidents-exile-can-mean-irrelevancy|title=For Chinese Dissidents, Exile Can Mean Irrelevancy|first=Michele|last=Kelemen|date=2012-05-21|access-date=2013-06-23|publisher=NPR|archive-date=2012-06-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623205043/http://www.npr.org/2012/05/21/153214450/for-chinese-dissidents-exile-can-mean-irrelevancy|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2008, Fu arranged for Republican House representative [[Frank Wolf (politician)|Frank Wolf]] to meet with an unauthorized house church leader in China.<ref name="Fiske"/> In 2009, Fu persuaded the [[George W. Bush|Bush]] [[United States National Security Council|National Security Council]] and [[United States Department of State|State Department]] to grant asylum to the family of [[Gao Zhisheng]], a lawyer known for his defense of house Christians and other sensitive groups.<ref name="WSJ"/>
In May 2012, Fu translated legal activist [[Chen Guangcheng]]'s appeal to travel to the US in a special [[United States congressional hearing|congressional hearing]] convened by representative [[Chris Smith (New Jersey politician)|Chris Smith]] (R-NJ).<ref>{{cite news |last=Mathes |first=Michael |date=2012-05-13 |title=China activist pleads for help in call to US lawmakers |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hXOIxK9aPKYbBk3oTp_PxmVTjYxw?docId=CNG.b41219a01c75702af77de6bda6b28c4d.31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016012924/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hXOIxK9aPKYbBk3oTp_PxmVTjYxw?docId=CNG.b41219a01c75702af77de6bda6b28c4d.31 |archive-date=2012-10-16 |access-date=2013-06-23 |agency=[[Agence France-Presse]]}}</ref> Fu criticized President [[Barack Obama]] of "abandoning" Chen for his handling of the case.<ref name="NYT"/>
In America, [[New York University]] (NYU) technicians mistakenly announced that they had found spyware installed on an [[iPad]] and [[iPhone]] that Fu had given to Chen via his wife Heidi Cai.<ref name="Allen">{{cite news |title=Friends Like These: How a Famed Chinese Dissident Got Caught Up in America's Culture Wars |first=Jonathan |last=Allen |publisher= Reuters |location=New York |date=2013-11-25}} Accessed 2013-12-22.</ref> [[Jerome A. Cohen]] of NYU accused Fu of giving Chen a [[Trojan horse (computing)|trojan horse]] "enabl[ing Fu] to monitor his communications secretly", although Fu denied this, saying his technicians only installed [[Skype]] for Chen.<ref name="Jacobs">{{cite news |last=Jacobs |first=Andrew |date=2013-06-21 |title=Devices Given to Chinese Legal Advocate Had Tracking Spyware, N.Y.U. Says |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/22/world/asia/chinese-advocates-devices-were-loaded-with-spyware-nyu-says.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130623095158/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/22/world/asia/chinese-advocates-devices-were-loaded-with-spyware-nyu-says.html |archive-date=2013-06-23 |access-date=2013-06-23 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Cohen and NYU later rescinded these accusations, which they said were based on a misunderstanding of the technology, and clarified that the iPad and iPhone given to Mr. Chen by China Aid did not contain spyware.<ref>[http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/8202073318.html "New York University, Jerome Cohen and ChinaAid, Bob Fu Release Joint Statement Regarding the Spyware Controversy"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226115201/http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/8202073318.html |date=2013-12-26 }}, 9 December 2013.</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
==External links==
*{{facebook|bob.fu.1460|Bob Fu}}
* [http://www.bobfu.net/ God's Double Agent: The True Story of a Chinese Christian's Fight for Freedom]  (Bob Fu's Autobiography)
* [http://www.freedomcollection.org/interviews/xiqiu_quotbobquot_fu/ Bob Fu] ''[[Freedom Collection]]'' interview
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fu, Bob}}
[[Category:Chinese expatriates in the United States]]
[[Category:Abortion in China]]
[[Category:American evangelicals]]
[[Category:People from Midland, Texas]]
[[Category:Chinese human rights activists]]
[[Category:Chinese refugees]]
[[Category:Chinese evangelicals]]
[[Category:Chinese Protestant religious leaders]]
[[Category:Founders of charities]]
[[Category:Nonprofit chief executives]]
[[Category:1968 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century evangelicals]]
[[Category:21st-century evangelicals]]
[[Category:Liaocheng University alumni]]
[[Category:Oklahoma Wesleyan University faculty]]