China's New Religious Regulations Tougher for Unregistered Churches
The new rules on religious affairs in China will not lead to more freedoms, analysts said yesterday. Instead, the regulations--made public Sunday by official media--could signal a tougher time for underground churches and groups not officially sanctioned.
While the new regulations are said to safeguard religious freedom and human rights, sources informed Agence France-Presse that the main tone of the regulations has not changed. "They still stress the overruling importance of state interests over religious affairs," AFP reported.
"Religious bodies, activities and believers should abide by the Constitution, laws and regulations to safeguard national unity, racial harmony and social stability," states one clause.
Analysts told AFP that the rules, which protect only the legal rights of state-sanctioned religious groups, meant non-state-sanctioned ones such as Christian house churches or other religious sects would be worse off.
"It is a two-edged sword," said Chan Kim-kwong, a China expert at the Hong Kong Christian Council. "In terms of implementation, it is now clear what they should supervise, or what they shouldn't bother with."
Chan told AFP that under the clearer regulations, there would be less room for maneuver for individual groups not registered with the state--as in the often ambiguous rules of the past.
"For those which are not registered, Chinese government's dismissal of them in terms of banning or punishment will be stepped up," he added. "These groups will have even less room for survival. When the grey areas have gone and if you're not registered, you won't be in the game anymore."
According to the 2004 International Religious Freedom Report, the China Government has sought to restrict religious practice to government-sanctioned organizations and registered places of worship and to control the growth and scope of activities of religious groups.
Analysts say the new regulations--to take effect on Mar. 1, 2005--clarify the areas of supervisory responsibility of various government departments and the sorts of religious activities, projects and publications that should come under state control.
Nicolas Becquelin, research director of Human Rights in China, told AFP it indicated a stepping up of the supervision of religions.
"We're still talking about a socialist atheist state with the dominant ideology that religion is a bad thing," he said. "But over the past 20 years the state has moved from trying to stamp out religion to trying to manage it."
He noted that the rules still required religious groups to register with the state--a de-facto approval process which has barred myriad groups from being recognized as legal religious entities.
"The government is still using registration to enforce political control and there is no way to appeal the process," Becquelin said.
The U.S. State Department, which released its annual report on religious freedom on Sept. 15, reported that the China Government tries to control and regulate religious groups to prevent the rise of groups that could constitute sources of authority outside of the control of the Government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The report stated that unregistered religious groups continued to experience varying degrees of official interference and harassment. Members of some unregistered religious groups, including Protestant and Catholic groups, were subjected to restrictions, including intimidation, harassment, and detention. In some localities, "underground" religious leaders reported ongoing pressure either to register with the State Administration for Religious Activities (SARA, formerly known as the central Religious Affairs Bureau) or its provincial and local offices, still known as Religious Affairs Bureaus (RAB).
However, despite efforts at government control, official sources, religious professionals, and persons who attend services at both officially sanctioned and underground places of worship all reported that the number of believers in the country continued to grow.
