Chinese law prohibits bringing printed religious material into the country except for personal use. CNN today reports that four members of the Sheridan, Wyoming based Christian group, Vision Beyond Borders, are refusing to leave the Kunming Airport after customs officials seized 300 Bibles that they had in their luggage that were to be distributed through a Kunming shop owner. The group's director, Pat Klein, said he has been bringing Bibles into China for 21 years, and did not know he was violating Chinese law. He says they will stay at the airport until their Bibles are returned to them.
UPDATE: Unable to get the Chinese to relent, members of Vision Beyond Borders left the Kunming Airport on Monday after 26 hours. (AP).
UPDATE: When members of Vision Beyond Borders returned to the Kunming airport to leave China on Wednesday for Thailand, their 315 Bibles were returned to them and they were escorted to immigration. (China Post, Aug. 20).
