Chinese communist government’s aversion to religious and spiritual groups came to the limelight again recently, after the US authorities nabbed two suspected Chinese agents for plotting against the Falun Gong group.1 The spiritual entity is outlawed in China, and its practitioners are subjected to brutal and inhuman treatment, which even includes organ harvesting.
Beijing government has been facing allegations of frequent crackdowns on religious and ethnic minorities in the country. China has had a record of attacks on churches, mosques, and Buddhist temples since the communist party came to power seven decades ago. However, frequency and intensity increased after Xi Jinping became China’s president. Attacks on Christianity and its followers saw a sharp rise. Several churches were demolished, copies of the Holy Bible were burnt, and pastors were arrested in China.
2The CCP government was officially involved. Chinese authorities removed 1,200 crosses from churches in Zhejiang province alone. One church leader said the CCP tried to transform Christianity “into a tool that serves” the communist party. 3 “What they are doing feels like something from the Cultural Revolution era,” said the leader, who wished not to be named fearing retaliation. In Churches, crosses were replaced by Chinese flags and portraits of Xi and Mao Zedong. The Chinese government imposed bans on free discussions and online sales of the Holy Bible.
Information officers were installed to keep a watch on religious activities perceiving them as a threat to social stability.4 The Buddhist population in Tibet has been witnessing suppression since the region was annexed to mainland China in 1950. Tibetans are discouraged from practising Buddhism; prayer flags and rituals are banned. Even monasteries were demolished. 5Many believed the CCP government attempted to “sinicise” religions as it tried to remove any challenge to the atheist communist regime. Bob Fu of the nonprofit China Aid said anti-Christian activities in China date back to the 1960s when Mao’s wife started a campaign to burn
Bibles. 6 “The international community should be alarmed and outraged for this blatant violation of freedom of religion and belief,” he said.7
1https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/27/us-charges-two-over-china-backed-plot-against-falungong
2https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/05/china-christianity-wenzhou-zhejiang-churches
3https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/27/chinas-christians-protest-evil-communistcampaign-to-tear-down-crosses
4https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-25/crosses-burned-in-china-religion-crackdown/10301956
5https://www.newsweek.com/chinas-relentless-persecution-tibet-must-end-now-opinion-1609393
6https://twitter.com/BobFu4China/status/1037483475664859136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%
5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1037483475664859136%7Ctwgr%5E842bb9b9bf7478d3bbf7b15f6c1e
eccdfd5c7dc2%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fworld%2Fchineseofficials-burn-bibles-close-churches-force-christian-to-denounce-faith-amid-escalating-crackdown
7https://www.foxnews.com/world/chinese-officials-burn-bibles-close-churches-force-christian-todenounce-faith-amid-escalating-crackdown
Beijing government has been trying to interfere in the appointments of Dalai Lama and Bishops in order to control religious groups. The People’s Republic of China is officially
an atheist state, though it recognises five religions– Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Protestantism, and Catholicism. Beijing government has been promoting atheism in schools, colleges as well as the social and political arena.
A book named- The Principles of Scientific Atheism is officially recognised by the CCP, which stresses Chinese culture being always non-religious and promotes negative views on religions.8 Xi has warned religious activities to remain within the law, he has officially encouraged “sinicisation” of religion. “China must adhere to the direction of the sinicisation of religion, insist on uniting the masses of religious believers around the party and the government,” he said at a national religious work conference in 2021. 9Zhu Xiaoming, former secretary of the CCP Leadership Group on Tibetan affairs, denounced religion and spirituality and encouraged CCP members to preach more atheism and materialism.
10 “Religions and religious groups have faced increased repression since Xi Jinping became president in 2013,” Zhu noted.11 All this helps the communist government to build the required support and mandate to carry out the repression of religious and spiritual groups in the country. Chinese authorities are found to be resorting to barbaric and inhumane measures and techniques to punish and control people engaged in religious and spiritual activities. Minority Uyghur Muslims living in Xinjiang province are alleged to be persecuted by Chinese authorities for practising Islam.12They are forced to renounce Islamic practices, and failing to which they are sent to prisons and tortured.13
The extent of punishment for practising religion in China has reached organ harvesting. There are allegations of Chinese agencies being involved in organ harvesting of religious minorities such as Muslims, Christians, Buddhists and spirituals groups like Falun Gong. China Tribunal, which is an independent panel to investigate organ harvesting, said hundreds of thousands of victims from persecuted communities in China were subjected to organ harvesting. “Victim for victim and death for death, cutting out the hearts and other organs from living, blameless, harmless, peaceable people constitutes one of the worst mass atrocities of this century,” said Hamid Sabi of counsel to the China Tribunal.14
8https://www.ucanews.com/news/china-promotes-new-book-on-atheism-targeting-religions/95956
9https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3158590/china-tightens-control-religionemphasis-national-security
10https://www.economist.com/china/2022/10/06/han-chinese-seek-spiritual-salve-in-tibetanbuddhism
11https://www.ucanews.com/news/china-promotes-new-book-on-atheism-targeting-religions/95956
12https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/23944811221085680
13https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/06/china-uyghur-student-facing-trial-highlightsgovernment-push-to-jail-muslims/
14https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/9/25/un-urged-to-investigate-forced-organ-harvesting-in-china