Chinese Clergy Rebut US Report on Religious Freedom

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, May 23, 2003

Chinese Clergy Rebut US Report on Religious Freedom

Chinese religious leaders Thursday lashed out at the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom after the commission attacked China's religious situation in a report they said was based on hearsay and conjecture.

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A senior Catholic clergyman has led a host of Chinese religious leaders in condemning a United States governmental report on religious freedoms in China.

"As the Bible commands us 'Let your yes be yes and your no be no', I have to speak the truth about China's religious freedom," said Father Jos Ma Yinglin, secretary-general of the Chinese Catholic Bishops College, at a symposium of leaders of China's major religious groups Thursday.

"I can't remain silent before the distorted picture painted by the United States on my country's religious freedom," said Ma, a pious Roman Catholic.

On May 13, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent federal government agency, released its 2003 Report on International Religious Freedom which lists China among "countries of particular concern" and criticizes it as a "particularly severe violator of religious freedom".

"Such a judgment based on mere hearsay doesn't match the facts I see. Since the country's opening-up and reform, all kinds of religions have grown fast. The religious cause of China has entered its heyday," he said.

There are more than 100 million Chinese adherents of different religions such as Protestant Christians, Roman Catholics, Tibetan Buddhists, Uygur Muslims, Taoists and others, about 7.7 percent of the country's total population.

Although the ruling Communist Party is atheistic, nearly 17,000 religious believers have been selected as deputies to the People's Congress or members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference at various levels to participate in the management of state affairs.

The report also vilifies China as a violator of religious freedom by asserting that Gong Shengliang, a self-proclaimed pastor of the underground "South China Church", was put to death on account of his religion.

Pastor Gao Ying, an executive member of the China Christian Council, said the death penalty had been warranted by his criminal activities rather than his religion.

"Moreover, you can never call him a pastor given his mind and acts were a great deviation from the doctrines of Christianity and his so-called church only preached superstition," she said.

After establishing the "South China Church" in 1991, Gong urged his followers to destroy social stability by ordering 10 deliberate injury and arson cases.

Proclaiming himself a "Bishop", Gong raped eight women and pocketed approximately four million yuan (481,928 US dollars) through illegal means such as fraud and intimidation.

What enraged the leaders of Chinese religious groups most was the USCIRF's open advocacy of the Falungong.

"How can they equal China's crackdown against the evil cult with the religious persecution. Falungong can never be called a religion," said Master Sheng Hui, vice-chairman of the Buddhist Association of China.

"It's a well-known fact that Li Hongzhi has stolen many special terms of Buddhism to dress up his Falungong to try to make it look holy. However, anyone equipped with an elementary knowledge of Buddhism will see through his ignorance," he said.

Pointing to the religious freedom in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Hajj Shamsuddin, vice-chairman of the China Islamic Association, confirmed that there were indeed some "pseudo-mosques" established in Xinjiang whose real purpose was to train terrorists and whip up hatred among different ethnic groups.

"The firm and resolute crackdown of the Chinese government on such unlawful acts has guaranteed the security of Chinese and contributed to the global anti-terrorism campaign," he said.

The biggest comfort for Chinese Muslims was that the government had never repressed Islamism because of a disreputable group with sinister motives, he said.

A state fund of 10 million yuan (1.2 million US dollars) had been channeled to the maintenance and protection of mosques and the first batch of books and periodicals in the Uygur language had been published, he said.

The Seventh Nagtsang Jampa Ngawang Living Buddha rejected as totally groundless the claim of the USCIRF that "the Chinese government retains tight control over religious activity and places of worship in Tibet".

"The policy of religious freedom has been well implemented there," he said.

"If you stay in Tibet, you will see worship activities. Monks and nuns learn and discuss lections whenever they want in monasteries and temples while Buddhism adherents worship as they like," he said.

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