A Report on Christians in China

Jocelyn Durston

International Policy Analyst, The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada

Introduction:

Hello, my name is Jocelyn Durston and I am the international policy analyst for The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and coordinator of the Religious Liberty Commission. Thank you very much for having me here today.

Introduction to the RLC:

The Religious Liberty Commission of The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada was established in 1997 to promote religious freedom as a fundamental human right, with a particular focus on Christians.

The Religious Liberty Commission, or RLC as I will refer to it this afternoon, works with parliamentarians, civil servants, media, business and other groups in its efforts on behalf of persecuted Christians around the world. The RLC works both within the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada’s constituency of evangelical protestant Christians and beyond to establish effective prayer and advocacy groups.

The RLC is composed of individuals who have a particular expertise in religious freedom issues and of representatives from Canadian organizations that closely monitor religious freedom abuse cases on a worldwide basis. These organizations include The Voice of the Martyrs, Arab World Ministries and Open Doors Canada.

Report Process:

I am pleased to be here today to announce the release of our latest report entitled, “Broken Promises: The Protestant Experience with Religious Freedom in China in Advance of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games”. The report, which is available in hard copy at today’s event or for download on our website www.evangelicalfellowship.ca is the result of a four month research process conducted under my supervision. The report has been reviewed by all members of the Religious Liberty Commission and we’re pleased to make it available to anyone who is concerned about or wants to learn more about the abuse and pressures faced by Protestant Christians in China today.

Report Summary:

As there has been much coverage provided in regard to other religious communities in China, the report focuses on the general extent of persecution faced by the Protestant House Church movement in China. It also documents trends that illustrate the continued repression of freedom of religion taking place in advance of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and supplements similar observations that have been made in regard to other religious groups.

The Religious Liberty Commission undertook the writing of this report for a few reasons:

First, and most importantly, to communicate to the public, to the media and to the government detailed information about the plight of the extensive Protestant House Church movement in China. Chinese house churches are not members of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement churches in China which are governed by provincial Religious Affairs Bureaus. A house church in China is normally comprised of a small group of Christians who secretly meet in private residences or other buildings to practice their Christianity without being subject to the rule of the Communist Party. Church pastors in China have estimated the number of Christians in China to be 61-64 million with 16 million as members of state recognized churches and another 45-48 million in underground house churches. Every member of a house church faces risks of persecution for their faith and it is important that their stories are heard and shared.

Second, to strategically bring attention to the plight of Protestant house church Christians in China in advance of this summer’s Olympic Games. The Games have brought a fresh focus to China and presented new opportunities for many to highlight human rights abuses in China. The Chinese government’s promises to improve their human rights record have given us all a significant opportunity to hold them accountable for their commitments and their actions.

And third, to lend credibility to and share concerns with all minority faith groups in China that experience harsh treatment because of their beliefs. When improvements begin to be made for one group, improvements for other groups will follow. Our hope is that all religious groups would come to know freedom of religion in China and that the Chinese government would see the wisdom in allowing their people to practice their beliefs freely and peacefully.

Unfortunately, the research for this report has revealed that the persecution of Protestants in China has worsened rather than improved since China won the bid to host this summer’s Olympic Games. The report highlights trends in persecution cases that reveal strategic policy changes the Communist party has made in order to deliberately harass and intimidate Christians while attempting to avoid attention from human rights watchdog groups.

The report examines persecution trends that include those related to the arrests of house church leaders on criminal charges, the use of torture to extract false confessions, the closure of house churches, the persecution of foreign missionaries, and the persecution of children and students.

Some of the Communist Party’s strategic policy changes have been introduced because of fears associated with China’s image during the Olympics. In order to remove evidence of human rights abuse that could damage Beijing’s image on the world stage, the CPC has initiated a crackdown on all forms of opposition to government practices. This has included an increased volume of everything from the arrests to the executions of Protestant Christians and other religious and political groups that find fault with the Communist Party.

An example of this that we highlight in the report is one of the most significant pieces of evidence of a pre-Olympic crackdown. In 2004, a secret document entitled “Notice on Further Strengthening Marxist Atheism Research, Propaganda and Education” was leaked to an outside watchdog group. The document was issued by the Department of Propaganda of the Central Committee of the CPC and circulated among top party officials. It refers to religions as “pseudoscience and superstition” and accuses religion of being “the new trend of Western hostile forces’ attempt to ‘westernize’ and ‘disintegrate’ China in the name of religion”. The purpose of the document is to encourage party members to aim “at the elimination of fatuity and superstition”. Attempts to undertake this have seen the adoption of numerous different strategies on how to oppress and intimidate religious groups while avoiding public scrutiny.

The fact that this document was produced, not only after the Olympic pledges and promises, but also just two months before the new “Religious Affairs Provisions” which was yet another public promise to improve religious freedom, is a sign of the discontinuity between how the government tries to portray themselves and how they actually act behind closed doors.

The report also lists articles that the Communist Party of China has committed to in writing relating to human rights and examples where they have broken their promises in relation to Protestant Christians in each and every case.

The information in the report comes from secondary sources that have direct access to primary sources. It is for reasons of protection that primary sources are not named in the report, but all information found in the report has been cross-checked with numerous sources, each identified as reliable in their own right, to ensure validity.

It is no secret that many Chinese citizens, particularly those from minority faith groups suffer severe abuse for their beliefs. It is our hope that the information in this report will be helpful to those in China and those bringing attention to their plight as we continue to work together to find ways to ease the suffering of religious groups and defenders of human rights in China.

Presented at the Canadian Coalition for Democracies Symposium

The People’s Republic of China: Foreign Policy Risks and Opportunities

Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Room 200, West Block, Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Canada

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