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a move as farcical as it is sad, leaders of China's government-controlled
churches have criticized the Second
Annual Report
of the U.S.
Commission on International Religious Freedom, proclaiming that
it "distorts facts with ulterior motives" and "interferes
in China's internal affairs."
The Commission
on International Religious Freedom, established by the International
Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-292), monitors religious
freedom in other countries and advises the president, the Secretary
of State, and Congress on how best to promote it. According to the
Commission's May report, "The Commission's concern has been
validated by the deteriorating religious-freedom situation in China
over the last year. Thus the Commission urges the U.S. government
to work vigorously to promote religious freedom in China by making
its concern known to the Chinese government and by working to secure
substantial improvements."
This U.S. Commission
Report follows a year in which international headlines reported
"PRC Officials tell AFP 1,200 Temples Destroyed or Closed During
Crackdown"; "Crackdown at Christmas Dims Holiday for Chinese:
Regional Assault on Illegal Churches Worst in Decades"; and
"3,000 Temples, Churches in Wenzhou Reportedly Closed Down,
Demolished."
Even though
China's state-run media has confirmed such atrocities, Yu Xinli,
deputy-president of the China Christian Council, said earlier this
month: "Today in China, Chinese Christians enjoy the freedom
to conduct religious activities — it serves as a good example of
how good the situation is."
At great personal
risk, House Church Christians inside China are reporting that all
of the information and facts of the Commission's report are based
on the truth. Many Christians inside China refuse to register with
the state-controlled church, insisting that the head of their church
is God — not the godless communist party. They reject their government's
regulations that forbid them from teaching about the Second Coming
of Jesus. The Commission's report explains, "Bishop Ding Guangxum,
the concurrent honorary president of the official Three Self Patriotic
Movement (TSPM) for the Protestant churches in China and the Christian
Council of China, reportedly has introduced a 'new theology' that
seeks to de-emphasize the differences between believers and non-believers
and to ensure that doctrines of the official Chinese Protestant
churches are compatible with socialist ideology. One important feature
of this theology is the denial of the fundamental Christian doctrine
of salvation by faith."
After reviewing
the Commission's Report, House Church Christians inside China are
encouraged that they are neither abandoned nor forgotten. They implore,
"The persecution here has never ceased. We need the U.S. efforts
to continue to investigate and let the outside world know the real
situation in China and not to be deceived by Trinity Broadcast Network,
Benny Hinn, and those organizations and persons hired by China's
communist officials. Many people are hired by China's government
to build up connections between the government's official Three-Self
Church and every big Christian church in the U.S. The Chinese government
boasts of how proud they are with their public-relations work —
'before those easily deceived and silly Americans' ... but they
will continue to treat us, their own brothers and sisters the same
way as before."
Protesting
the U.S. Commission's Report, Fu Tieshan, chairman of the Chinese
Patriotic Catholic Association, said, "Catholic followers in
China enjoy freedom of religion." Nevertheless, many believe
that China's Patriotic leaders are failing their duties to their
"flocks," either by overlooking repression, or being genuinely
unaware of suffering because of their government's suppression of
information. In April alone, the following known Loyal Catholic
clerics and faithful were arrested: Bishop Shi Enxiang, 79 of Yixian,
Hebei — arrested on Good Friday; Fr. Li Jianbo, 34, Inner Mongolia
— arrested; Fr. Lu Genjun, 39, Baoding, Hebei — sentenced to laogai
for 3 years; Fr. Yin — Hebei, sentenced to laogai for 3 years; one
priest in Fujian — arrested; one priest in Jiangxi — arrested; 13
underground Loyal Catholic laypeople — arrested April 13th.
The U.S. Commission
Report's analysis of the status of the situation of Uighur Muslims
explains, "Islamic institutions and prominent individuals in
the Muslim community have become the target of oppressive, often
brutal measures." In protest, Chen Guangyuan, the president
of a state-sanctioned religious organization, the Islamic Association
of China, charges, "... the way they fabricated the report
is despicable." However, reports of persecution of Uighurs
in China are never-ending. The Uyghur American Association's Turdi
Ghoja, an ethnic Uyghur from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
of China reports of "many stories of young Uyghur children
being kidnapped for their organs."
Regarding Tibet,
the U.S. Commission reports: "Chinese authorities maintain
tight control over religious activity and places of worship in Tibet
and reportedly have increased some restrictions in the last year.
The government remains suspicious of Tibetan Buddhism because of
its link with the Dalai Lama." An exiled Tibetan monk from
the Amdo region who was imprisoned for 24 years states, "Life
in Tibet is a total disaster, and we are in need of help."
Despite these pleas, Qoxi, Deputy President of the China Advanced
Institute of Tibetan Buddhism, said that the attack by the U.S.
report on China's "right policies on freedom of religion and
evil cults" constitutes again a gross interference in China's
international affairs.
The Deputy-President
of China Taoist Association, Zhang Jiyu, challenged the Commission's
report, saying "The report went so far as to treat the evil
cult Falun Gong, rejected in disgust by the Chinese religious circles
and the Chinese people, as a religion."
In Article
300 of the PRC Criminal Law, "cult organization" is defined
as "illegal organizations that are set up using religions,
Qigong or other things as camouflage, deify their leading members,
and confuse, poison and deceive people, recruit and control their
members, and endanger the society by fabricating and spreading superstitious
heresies." Cult organizations in China include unregistered
religious communities and churches, the Falun Gong (an exercise
routine that draws on some spiritual themes regarding inner peace)
and 14 Protestant movements.
Most faith
communities do not recognize geographical boundaries, and do not
share the political tensions that have broiled between the U.S.
and China. If China's official faith leaders could recognize that
their communities extend beyond their country's walls, they might
gain powerful, new allies to repel the PRC's campaign of religious
persecution.
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