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Chinese Legislator Refutes Accusations on Religious Freedom in China
The people in China fully enjoy the freedom of religion and the accusations made by the U.S.State Department on China's religious situation are groundless, a senior Chinese legislator said here Thursday.
"The freedom to religious beliefs is one of the basic rights of Chinese citizens provided for by the Constitution and protected by laws," said Zeng Jianhui, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC).
Zeng, who led a seven-member NPC delegation on a two-week visit to the United States, told reporters that accusations about China's religious situation in the 2000 Report on International Religious Freedom by the U.S. State Department are not born out by facts.
He said in 1949 when the People's Republic of China was founded, there were only 700,000 believers in Christianity and now the number of believers has increased to 10 million.
Believers in Catholicism have also been registering an annual increase of 50,000 in recent years, he added.
In fact, all the major five religions in China have developed over the past years and followers can conducted religious activities which are protected by laws, he said.
"Of course, religious believers must abide by the Constitution and laws as other citizens," he said, adding that violations of laws under the name or pretext of religion should not be allowed.
The Chinese NPC delegation arrived in the United States on September 9, at the invitation of the U.S. Institute of Representative Government.
The Chinese lawmakers have met with dozens of U.S. congressmen over the past few days to exchange views on issues of mutual concern.
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