Religion
Officially China is an atheist society where religion is not seen as compatible with communism. Nevertheless, China is a country with a huge diversity of religious beliefs. Figures vary widely and suggest as many as 200 million people may be followers of a religion.
Despite the guarantee of religious freedom in the Constitution and recent expressions of government support for official religions, religious groups are controlled. Membership of officially recognised religions such as Buddhism has expanded in recent years.
In 2017, President Xi Jinping issued an order saying all religions in China should be Chinese in orientation.
Followers of religions that are not recognised, including many Muslims in the western Chinese provinces, are subject to repression. China has been accused of targeting Muslim religious figures and banning religious practices in the Xinjiang region, as well as destroying mosques and tombs.
Followers of unrecognised quasi-religious groups such as Falun Gong have been heavily persecuted.
Religious minorities
According to Amnesty International, many religious groups face huge discrimination in China. Although, Article 35 of the Chinese Constitution states Citizens of the People’s Republic of China shall enjoy freedom of religious belief.
And, goes on to state that No state organ shall coerce citizens to believe in or not to believe in any religion, nor shall they discriminate against citizens who believe in or do not believe in any religion.
The reality is very different. The CCP has increasing cracked down on religion in recent years especially since 2018. New Regulations for Religious Affairs were implemented in February 2017 which saw strict rules about worship and entering religious sites introduced.
One group targeted by the new restrictions introduced by CCP are Christians. The official religious stance of the CCP is atheism. After growing concern over the rapid growth of Christianity in China the CCP have shut down many churches deeming them to be ‘illegal buildings'. New places of worship need to be registered with the Government, and people may not practice their religion in the streets. Since 2017, many churches in the Henan province have been raided and their leaders arrested.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has reported that the CCP have encouraged a policy of migration of ethnic Han Chinese into the region in order to dominate the culture.
In 2017, the CCP argued that Muslims in the Xinjiang region were ‘extremists’ and therefore needed to be cracked down. It is estimated that 120,000 Uighurs are currently detained in Chinese Laogai labour camps.
These camps have been condemned by the international community, including HRW, due to the reports of torture and abuse being carried out. However, initially the CCP denied the existence of the camps but recently they have admitted of their existence and called them ‘transformational camps’ offering job opportunities and educational courses.
