New Phase Appeared in China's Religious Work: Commentary

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, December 13, 2001

New Phase Appeared in China's Religious Work: Commentary

Since the 1990s, the third generation of the leading collective of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Jiang Zemin at the core has, from the high plane of the general situation of the Party and State work, made a series of important expositions, policy decision and plans concerning religious work. A new phase has thus appeared in China's religious work.

Religious work is an important component of the Party and State work, it holds an important position in the general situation in the development of the Party and State cause. Since the 1990s, the third generation of the leading collective of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Jiang Zemin at the core has, from the high plane of the general situation of the Party and State work, made a series of important expositions, policy decision and plans concerning religious work. A new phase has thus appeared in China's religious work.

Correct policies have brought about a favorable situation

Over the past dozen years or so, the Party policy on the freedom of religious belief has gained further implementation. Normal religious activities and the legitimate rights and interests of the religious circles have been effectively guaranteed. Government management of religious affairs has gradually embarked on the road of legalization and standardization.

New steps have been taken in guiding religions to adapt themselves to the socialist society. The patriotic united front of the Party with the religious circles is being consolidated and developed from day to day. People of the religious circle and the broad masses of religious believers love their country and religion, get united in making progress and take an active part in developing socialist material construction and promoting cultural and ethical progress and have thus made active contributions to social stability, economic development and the unification of the motherland.

Currently, there are five main religions in China, namely, Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, around 100 million religious believers, more than 300,000 religious administrative staff members, over 3,000 religious groups and upwards of 100,000 places for religious activities.

Religious organizations have also set up 74 religious institutes and seminaries for training religious administrative staff. Various religious organizations have gradually established mechanisms for democratic management, under which they independently manage their own affairs. Classical books such as the Buddhist Scriptures, the Taoist Canon, the Koran and the Bible have all been published and distributed by various religious organizations, various religions have published national periodicals which are distributed at home and abroad.

The Chinese government has always respected and protected the right to the freedom of religious belief and customs and habits of ethnic minorities.

At present, in the Tibet Autonomous Region alone, there are over 1,700 places for Buddhist activities and more than 46,000 Buddhist monks and nuns living in temples or monasteries. There are over 23,000 mosques and 29,000 religious administrative staff members in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The needs of the religious believers in their religious life are satisfied. Religious activities, festivals and traditions as well as diet, funeral and burial ceremonies with distinct ethnic features are being respected.

The Party and government attach great importance to protecting citizens' right to the freedom of religious beliefs.

In an effort to implement the provisions concerning protection of citizens' right to freedom of religious beliefs as laid down in the Constitution, the people's congresses and governments at all levels have formulated regulations and rules on protecting the legal rights and interests of religious organizations and venues for religious activities as well as religious departments in contacts with their foreign counterparts. Governments at various levels have strengthened management of religious affairs according to law, incidents that hurt the feelings and ethnic customs of religious believers and infringe upon the lawful rights and interests of religious circles and the right to freedom of religious believers, once discovered, are dealt with seriously according to law. Persons responsible for the incident triggered by the publication of readings that hurt the feelings of religious believers will be subjected to legal punishment.

While protecting normal religious activities according to law, the government also resolutely deals with and cracks down on criminal activities carried out under the cover of religion in order to maintain social stability, so that religious believers can carry out normal religious activities under the protection of law. All these measures are welcomed by the broad masses of people in the religious circle and the religious believers.

Maintaining "political unity and cooperation and showing mutual respect for belief" with the religious circle is the principle consistently upheld by the Communist Party of China (CPC).

In China, the religious circle, like people in other social sectors, politically enjoy equal democratic rights. There are personages of religious circles in People's Congresses and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at all levels. There are over 17,000 personages of the religious circle who have been elected to People's Congresses and CPPCC at all levels nationwide.

On behalf of the religious circles, they participate in the administration of State affairs and the decision on major social issues through these two organizations, at the same time, they report the opinions, proposals and wishes of the religious circle and religious believers to the Party and State. In recent years, relevant government departments have handled 50 proposals and motions submitted by deputies to the National People's Congress and members of the National Committee of the CPPCC.

Taking upon themselves the tasks of national construction and rejuvenation of China, the broad masses of religious believers have plunged themselves into the socialist modernization drive.

Workers, farmers, intellectuals, scientific and technical workers with different religious beliefs are working hard at their respective work posts, many model workers, advanced workers, advanced producers, March 8 banner bearers and young shock workers have come to the fore.

Religious circles also take an active part in the endeavor to promote socialist cultural and ethnical progress.

While making explanations on religious doctrines in compliance with the requirements of social progress, the various regions also extensively carry out the activities of creating "five-good religious activity centers" and the comparing-and-appraising activity of competing for "culturally and ethically advanced unit"; they carry forward the fine traditions of various religions, they actively develop the undertaking of public good and service, they have done a lot of useful work in the aspects of poverty and disaster relief work, helping financially difficult students and the disabled, reclaim wasteland for farming, engage in reforestation, erect bridges and pave roads and render services to society.

In the activity of combating the effect of flood in 1998 alone, the religious circles had donated more than 40 million yuan to the afflicted areas. In September 1999 China's Taiwan was hit by a strong earthquake that happened once every 100 years. Having learned about this, religious circles in the Chinese mainland showed solicitude for the victimized Taiwan compatriots, they expressed, in different forms, their sympathy and solicitude for the victims in Taiwan's afflicted areas and took an active part in the disaster relief activity.

In the struggle against the heretic "Fulun Gong" cult, the religious circles represented by Mr Zhao Puchu was the first to launch the campaign to expose and criticize the "Falun Gong" cult and play a significant role in the struggle against heresy. The religious circle has also played an active role in safeguarding national unity, opposing national partition and combating extremism as well as promoting reunification of the motherland.

China's various religions adhere to the principle of independence and self-administration, opposing foreign intervention in the internal affairs of China's religions, and opposing external forces which take advantage of religion to carry out infiltration activities against China.

Meanwhile, on the basis of equality and friendship, they actively carry out friendly exchanges and contacts with their foreign counterparts, strengthen exchanges and ties with the religious circles in various countries around the world and take an active part in the activities of the world's religious circles, they have participated in many major activities sponsored by the United Nations and other international organizations, through which they have both publicized the real situation of China's religious policies and freedom of religious beliefs and demonstrated the good image of China's religious circles, they have thus played a vital role in safeguarding world peace and enhancing the friendship between the peoples of China and various other countries around the world.

By People's Daily Online

Senior Official on Religious Belief

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