Zhan Silu as a bishop is somebody to foreign reporters, though, as he said, their view of China's overall religious development seems to have been overshadowed by something.

As soon as the bishop from southeastern Fujian Province arrived in Beijing a week ago for a political advisory session, foreign reporters poured in for interview.

Unnecessary to refuse, said the bishop, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top advisory body.

"My only requirement, however, is to keep their report accurate, " said Zhan.

Zhan grabbed foreign media's headlines last May when he was formally consecrated bishop of Mingdong Diocese in Fujian by the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.

To his regret, said Zhan, he was "misquoted" by some foreign reporters. The bishop said some foreign media misinterpreted his stance toward the Pope and their description of the consecration ceremony was not accurate either.

But the bishop said he is still willing to talk to foreign reporters.

"I won't refuse their interviews. China's religious circle is open. I just hope they won't get me wrong anymore," said Zhan, who studied at divinity schools in Shanghai and Hong Kong for eight years.

Religion is one of foreign media's frequent but unnecessarily familiar topics about China, as some questions foreign reporters would ask their interviewees always leave an impression that they are somewhat ignorant of China's religious development, according to the bishop and other religious personalities attending the CPPCC National Committee's annual session.

As secretary-general of the Buddhist Association of China, 41- year-old Xue Cheng has visited dozens of countries. He said he was quite used to all kinds of "funny questions" from foreign reporters.

"When I was abroad, reporters would ask me whether I was from Japan or the Republic of Korea when they saw me. And when I told them I was from China, then they would shift to the question 'Does China really have monks?'" said the abbot of Longquan Temple in Beijing.

"They really have to do good homework before they interview Chinese religious people. If they want to have professional reporting on China's religious affairs, they must do good research, " said Xue Cheng, also a CPPCC National Committee member, who was converted to Buddhism 25 years ago.

To help the public know more about Buddhism, Xue Cheng has opened a blog at one of the major Chinese websites sina.com.cn. So far his blog has attracted more than 500,000 visits.

Priest An Xinyi said he had similar encounters as Xue Cheng did.

"Once after preaching at a church in Los Angles, a U.S. reporter asked me whether I preached in the same way back in China, " An said. "I said Yes and showed him the outline I used in preaching in China."

An said he was also asked by a foreign reporter whether the Chinese Bible didn't have the Revelation.

"I didn't answer him. I just took out my Bible, which was published in China, and showed it to him," said An, chairman of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of Three-self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Church.

As China opens further to the outside world, contacts between China's religious groups and foreign media also increased.

At the ongoing annual sessions of the CPPCC National Committee and the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, lawmakers and political advisors from the religious circle found themselves having more chances to face foreign reporters as China has relaxed decades-old restrictions on foreign media for the Olympics.

"I have received many interviews from foreign media during the two sessions," Liu Bainian, a political advisor and vice-president of the China Patriotic Catholic Association, told Xinhua.

Though Liu frequently found his words were "cut out" by foreign reporters in previous reports, he is still ready for interviews.

"I would like to talk with them if they want me to talk, because I believe communication can help clear up misconceptions," Liu said.

Official statistics showed that China has about 100 million who are religious. But a recent survey has showed that China's religious followers might be three times more than the official estimate, according to media reports. Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Christianity and Islam are the five major religions, having about 67.4 percent of China's religious believers.

Source: Xinhua