China Daily Sensation

China Daily, the official English-language newspaper published in China, is not renowned for its exciting news coverage. Like all media in China its articles are carefully censored. For this reason, a long article which appeared on December 3 last year dealing with Christianity, and in particular, the house churches, is of particular significance.

China Daily interviewed Liu Peng, a scholar who for many years has researched religion under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. During the 1980s he worked in the prestigious United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party, helping to draft many policy papers and becoming expert on the Party’s administrative system of religious affairs. Liu therefore speaks as an insider with both experience and authority.

He told China Daily that China’s present system of management of religious affairs “leaves huge room for improvement.” He stated that this Chinese system was a copy from the former Soviet Union in the 1950s. “Although Lenin had said a socialist government should never have links with or provide aid to a religious body, the ironic reality was that administrative officials in China set guidelines for finance, activities and training for various religious groups.”

He further admitted that for the sake of officials’ convenience many churches and temples were shut down. “Just one out of every 10 churches was kept open, especially because the newly-founded People’s Republic was under threats from hostile foreign forces. Then believers were encouraged to join government-guided patriotic sects” [i.e. the Three Self Patriotic Movement].

Since 2007 Liu has spent substantial amounts to carry out a survey on religious groups in 16 provinces. He is still studying the results but stated that “house churches—praying facilities that don’t register or report to the State Administration for Religious Affairs—have at least 50 million followers nationwide.” This is the first time ever that an official public publication in China has given a reliable estimate of the number of house-church believers. It means that if the number of Protestant Christians in the TSPM (State controlled) churches is added on (they total 20-21 million according to the most recent official statistics), then there are at least 70 million Protestant Christians in China.

Liu further rejected the scenario that the rapid growth of the house churches was due to the “evil” designs of some Western forces. To Liu, the existence of many different types of churches is a natural phenomenon. He also pointed out that “another reason why ‘house churches’ have grown is that the small number of churches in … rural areas cannot meet the demand of the believers. In many places people have to walk miles to pray, hence their ‘house-churches.’”

Liu says that an over-arching legal system is needed for all religious bodies to compete freely, in a way similar to the market economy, with the government only intervening when a crime occurs.

Liu also discussed the key word “normal” in the clause of the Constitution which states “citizens enjoy freedom of religious belief and the State protects normal religious activities.” He has discussed this crucial issue with many legal experts who all agree the term should not be interpreted in such a way as to allow the government to decide what religious activities are allowed, like a religious court. “Religious practices differ from one another extensively. There are no specific criteria for the government to pass judgment.” Instead “normal” should mean “legal,” as the only possible thing the government can do is to distinguish between legal and illegal religious activities. At an appropriate time the word “normal” should be replaced. This would be a highly significant liberalization of religious policy when and if implemented.

Liu further stated that China still does not have a comprehensive law on religion. (Although we would add that there are a plethora of provincial and local restrictive regulations.) In 2004 the State Council passed the Regulations on Religious Affairs which was a step forward toward establishing the rule of law. But without a basic law enacted by the National People’s Congress the dozen or so existing sets of administrative regulations still cannot work in cohesive way. Such a basic law is particularly important for clarifying the relationship between the religious bodies on one side and the government on the other, along with the kind of public service that religious bodies can expect. Before there can be comprehensive legislation, Liu proposes that China can initiate some experimental projects of religious reform in five or six selected areas in the country. So far, the government has not responded to his research but he is optimistic. Overall, the government has become more open minded than before. “At least no one asks me to shut up. They must know I am trying to help the government identify and solve its problems.”

The China Daily article appears to back those researchers and officials who in November 2008 met with house-church leaders in Beijing and discussed measures for sweeping reforms of China’s outdated system of religious control.

(Taken from China Daily, December 3, 2009)