(ChinaAid Association—Nov. 27, 2020) Under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), authorities routinely accuse and arrest leaders of house churches and other faith-based gatherings for “illegal business operation, unlawful assembly, disrupting public order or endangering national assembly.” Despite documented, credible public and personal accounts of religious persecution, however, authorities claim, “the problem of ‘religious persecution’ does not exist in China.” When questioned about religious freedom in China, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the United States of America claims:
We must solemnly point out with justice that in China, freedom of religious belief is a fundamental right to which all citizens are entitled by the Constitution and law and the problem of ‘religious persecution’ does not exist in China. Such fact cannot be distorted by anyone in any means.
No single person in China has been or will be detained or imprisoned simply because of their religious beliefs or their legal religious activities. On the contrary, stipulations have been made within China’s criminal laws saying that any government employee who illegally deprives any citizens of their freedom of religious belief is subject to up to two-year imprisonment, or criminal detention according to the seriousness of the case. But those who use religion as a camouflage for illegal activities will be dealt with firmly according to law.
CCP officials refer to China’s constitution, which “guarantees a certain level of religious freedom for all its citizens.” According to Article 36 of the Chinese constitution, as this government document reportedly bans discrimination based on religion and forbids state organs, public organizations, or individuals from compelling citizens to believe in—or not believe in—any particular faith—citizens enjoy “freedom of religious belief.”
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The 2020 United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) update on Religious Freedom purports:
…The Chinese government’s ongoing crackdown on religion or belief has reached nearly unprecedented scale and scope. Under President Xi Jinping, Chinese authorities have:
- Detained between 800,000 and two million Uighur and other Muslims for reeducation in internment camps in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region;
- Seized control of key Tibetan monasteries and expelled thousands of monks and nuns;
- Arrested thousands of Christians and church leaders who refused to join the state sanctioned church;
- Intensified a campaign to eradicate the Falun Gong and repress other banned groups, such as the Church of Almighty God; and
- closed or demolished dozens of Buddhist and Taoist temples
Under the current rule of the CCP, a myriad of credible, documented
evidence reveals increasing religious persecution in China. The actions of the
CCP as it treats religion as well as religious followers as potential security
threats do not confirm the validity of Chinese claim that “the problem of
‘religious persecution’ does not exist in China.”
Indisputably, and contrary to China’s claim, the evidence overwhelmingly confirms that religious
persecution not only exists in China—it continues to increasingly exist.
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ChinaAid Media Team
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