02/08/2016

No religious freedom for former party officials

Communist Party adopts new guidelines (Press Release)

Icon: The National People's Congress, China's parliament. Photo: © Remko Tanis via Flickr

In China, even former communist party officials must stay atheists and are not allowed to practice any religion – as was recently announced in new guidelines published by the Organization Department of the Communist Party. “The fact that the Communist Party’s internal disciplinary section is taking a stand for atheism clearly shows that there are fears that religion is becoming more and more important in China’s public life,” said Ulrich Delius, the STP’s Asia-expert, in Göttingen on Monday. “It is a shame that the Communist Party’s statutes are still more important than the right to religious freedom guaranteed by the Chinese constitution.”

The new guidelines were published on the website of the State Council last Thursday. According to official statements, they specifically define rights and obligations of former party officials – for the first time since 1982.

“For the religious communities in China, this is a clear sign that the Communist Party is trying to prevent any liberalization of religious practice and will try to keep the number of the religious believers down at all costs,” warned Delius. All religious communities in China are experiencing a growing public interest in religious matters, as well as a growing number of believers. “If the Communist Party were to take the country’s constitution seriously, the former party officials would have to be free in their choice of religious belief. However – despite the economic liberalization – public life is still strongly regulated by the Communist Party,” said Delius.

The authorities are systematically trying to intimidate Christians – especially in the coastal province of Zhejiang, where the people are particularly religious. Since January 2014, a total number of 1.800 crosses were forcibly removed from churches by orders of the authorities, and critical pastors are systematically intimidated with arrests. Last Friday, Pastor Huang Yizi was released from prison after being locked up for five months. He had been kept in solitary confinement since September 12, 2015, based on charges of espionage and leaking state secrets. Other pastors who had criticized the desecrations of churches are still in custody. According to estimates, there are about 100 million Christians living in China today.


Header Photo: Remko Tanis via Flickr