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WASHINGTON – President Bush met with three prominent Chinese Christian activists on Thursday and pledged to discuss the issue of religious freedom with Chinese leaders in the future following the meeting.
Yu Jie, Li Baiguang and Wang Yi – high-profile Chinese activists from China – met with Bush at the White House to discuss the severe limitation of freedom of expression, religious freedom, and the rule of law in China. The three religious freedom activists are known to be strong voices in the criticism of the Chinese government’s controls on religion.
Although Li, who serves director of Beijing Qimin Research Center, has worked for human rights for years, the former university professor, freelance writer, legal professional, peasants’ right advocate and legal scholar earlier this month emphasized first the need for religious freedom in China.
“The national morale cannot be improved without proper religious worship,” Li said during the Freedom in China Summit 2006 on May 2. “As we have economic development our morale is rapidly deteriorating partly because of lack of religious freedom.”
Other faith leaders from the West have similarly labeled religious liberty as the "first freedom" that lays the basis for all other human rights.
"It's a prerequisite to other freedoms," said Nina Shea, director of Freedom House's Center for Religious Freedom, during a bipartisan conference on human rights last November.
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"At the core of religious freedom is respect," explained Shea as she placed human rights as the first before any other freedom. “Those who are deeply committed to ... religious freedom also are deeply tolerant.”
Currently, the Chinese Party Chinese government only allows Christians to worship in state-registered churches and considers unregistered churches illegal. Members of such “underground” churches are often subject to fines, arrests, and imprisonment.
“It's far more than worship,” according to Shea, “and [religious freedom] has an important individual dimension part of the congregation."
Bush has raised the issue of religious freedom in China in the past, such as during his visit to Beijing last November and during the recent meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao in April. However, the president has been criticized for not focusing enough on the human rights violations and the religious persecution by the Chinese government during his meetings.
According to Reuters, the Chinese activists that met with Bush Thursday said that they are determined to use China’s constitution to defend religious freedom and hope to see political prisoners receive the right to be baptized and worship in prison. They also said they had brought up concerns that Yahoo Inc. information was being used to jail Internet writers in China.
Before the meeting ended, the Chinese Christians reportedly prayed with Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Christian Post Reporter Joseph Alvarez in Washington contributed to this story.
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