Published on: 14 May 2023
Just when we thought that religious freedom and human rights violations could not get any worse in China, Xi Jinping proves us wrong yet again. No longer is it enough for a religious leader to refrain from openly disagreeing with the CCP, but now they will be forced to preach from the pulpit messages in support of the socialist party.
Reports coming out of China state that authorities are working on adopting a set of even stricter administrative measures for places of worship to replace the 2005 “Regulations for the Establishment, Approval, and Regulation of Religious Activity Venues.”
Currently, all places of worship must be registered with authorities and receive permission to operate legally in China. What will change with the approval of these new measures is that each church, temple, or mosque will have to actively ‘toe the party line’ and serve as an advertising arm of the CCP and their propaganda. Specifically, for a place of worship to obtain and/or retain permission to publicly function, they would have to “support the leadership of the CCP, support the socialist system, teach Xi Jinping’s thoughts on socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, abide by the Constitution, laws, regulations, rules and relevant provisions issued by the Management of Religious Affairs, practice the core values of socialism, and adhere to the direction of Sinicization of religion.”
In addition, priests, pastors, imams, and monks will be selected on the basis of their “love for the motherland and support for the leadership of the CCP and the socialist system.”
In regard to Xinjiang (the “autonomous” region of China whose largest ethnic group is Uyghurs, with another 7% of Ethnic Kazakhs, and Islam as the majority religion), Tibet and inner Mongolia, the new measures specify that all places of worship in those regions should promote “the use of the national (Han Chinese) language and script, promote national unity and progress, and guide religious citizens to enhance national consciousness, civic awareness, awareness of the rule of law, the correct distinction between ethnic customs and religious beliefs, and shall not use religion to interfere with administrative, judicial, educational and social life.”
New Chinese Anti-Espionage Law
On April 26, the new anti-espionage law was adopted and will come into force on July 1. Its purpose, according to the CCP, is to introduce a “holistic approach to national security.” In reality, its purpose is quite simply to make it a crime – espionage – for a Chinese citizen or foreign national to share information that the CCP might deem a threat to national security, whether with outside institutions, organizations or individuals.
Most likely by design, the law includes no clear definition of what constitutes a “state secret” that cannot be shared abroad. Even so, it is certain that the CCP will consider any exchange of data on the status of human rights or religious freedom issues within China equivalent to the sharing of top-secret information, making it punishable by law.
This new law will tie the hands of human rights advocates, lawyers and journalists whose job it is to share such material with the world.
