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Freedom of religion in China may be referring to the following entities separated by the Taiwan Strait:
- In the People's Republic of China (PRC), freedom of religion is provided for in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China,[1] yet with a caveat: the government controls what it calls "normal religious activity", defined in practice as activities that take place within government-sanctioned religious organizations and registered places of worship. Although the PRC's communist government claimed responsibility for the practice of religion, human rights bodies such as United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) have much criticized this differentiation as falling short of international standards for the protection of religious freedom.[2]
- In the Republic of China (ROC), it is provided for by the Constitution of the Republic of China, which is in force on Taiwan.[3] The ROC's government generally respects freedom of religion in practice, with policies which contribute to the generally free practice of religion.
The long history in ROC's constraint of the freedom of religion is a prelude to that of the PRC.[citation needed] The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officially espouses state atheism,[4] and has conducted antireligious campaigns to this end.[5] The People's Republic of China's five officially sanctioned religious organizations are the Buddhist Association of China, Chinese Taoist Association, Islamic Association of China, Three-Self Patriotic Movement and Catholic Patriotic Association. These groups have been overseen and controlled by the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party since the State Administration for Religious Affairs' absorption into the United Front Work Department in 2018.[6] Unregistered religious groups - including house churches, Falun Gong, and underground Catholics - face varying degrees of harassment, including imprisonment and torture under Xi Jinping Administration.[2] This is also compared to the ROC with PRC's strong neglect of human rights protections, state-sanctioned discrimination, and generally low regard for freedom of religion or belief.[7] As for Taiwan, Freedom House gave it the top score for religious freedoms in 2023.[8] Possibly the only coercion to practice a certain faith in Taiwan comes from within the family, where the choice to adopt a non-traditional faith can sometimes lead to ostracism "because they stop performing ancestor worship rites and rituals."[9] China has recently updated its Religious Affairs Regulations, leading to a notable curtailment of the freedom of religion and belief.[10]
- ^ Constitution of China, Chapter 2, Article 36.
- ^ a b Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Annual Report 2011, Oct 2011.
- ^ Constitution of the Republic of China, Chapter 2, Article 13, 1947.
- ^ Dillon, Michael (2001). Religious Minorities and China. Minority Rights Group International.
- ^ Buang, Sa'eda; Chew, Phyllis Ghim-Lian (9 May 2014). Muslim Education in the 21st Century: Asian Perspectives. Routledge. p. 75. ISBN 978-1-317-81500-6.
Subsequently, a new China was found on the basis of Communist ideology, i.e. atheism. Within the framework of this ideology, religion is treated as a 'contorted' world-view and believed that religion would disappear at the end, along with the development of human society. A series of anti-religious campaigns was implemented by the Chinese Communist Party from the early 1950s to the late 1970s. As a result, in nearly 30 years between the beginning of the 1950s and the end of the 1970s, Christian churches, mosques (as well as Chinese temples) were shut down and Imams involved in forced 're-education'.
- ^ Joske, Alex (9 May 2019). "Reorganizing the United Front Work Department: New Structures for a New Era of Diaspora and Religious Affairs Work". Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 21 July 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
- ^ Hayley Halpin (28 October 2018). "These are the best and worst countries in the world to be an atheist". TheJournal.ie. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
- ^ "Freedom House website, retrieved 2023-08-28". Archived from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
- ^ "Spreading the word is no bed of roses". Taiwan Today. 11 September 2008. Archived from the original on 2 March 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
- ^ Ochab, Dr Ewelina U. "Is China Conducting A Crackdown On Religion?". Forbes. Archived from the original on 30 November 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2023.