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China's regulations on religion serve only Beijing: MAC

China's new Regulations on Religious Affairs have done more in strengthening Beijing's control and governance of religions than safeguarding the people's religious freedom, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) of the Executive Yuan said in a newly released report.

The research report for this month, written by the cultural division of the MAC, noted that although the regulations, which came into effect in March, reaffirm that all Chinese citizens enjoy freedom of religious belief, they may actually still impose many restrictions on religious faiths, making these standards of freedom quite different from those in democratic countries.

The report said it is clear from the new regulations that religious affairs in China are not ruled by law, but are still ruled by government officials. For example, Article 3 says the state protects "normal religious activities." Yet the legal definition of "normal" is never clearly defined, and the government has the right to interpret it freely.

In another example, Article 3 and Article 4 emphasize that all religious groups and activities must be in line with national unity, consolidation among different ethnic groups and social stability, and free from foreign control. This means that religions are still subject to the highest guiding principles of the Communist Party of China.

The report further noted that, according to the regulations, people in China can believe in any religion, but are not allowed to preach freely. Religious workers are not allowed to preach outside their places registered with the government, and they can only preach in designated time periods.

The Appendix of the regulations says China will undertake religious exchanges with Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau in accordance with laws, administrative regulations and relevant rules of the nation. The MAC report viewed this as largely ambiguous and wants to wait and see what might develop from it.

The regulations, announced by China's State Council, took six years to draft. They cover six areas: general principles of religious freedom, expectations of religious organizations, places of worship, specifics for religious personnel, issues concerning religious property and legal liabilities. Altogether there are 48 articles.

Religious leaders worldwide have noted that the Chinese government, officially atheist, cares less about what religious people actually believe than about its official policies not being undermined. Many observers have agreed that the success of the regulations will depend on how they are interpreted and implemented at the grassroots level.
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