China’s Christian groups told to ensure ‘strict’ oversight of religion as Communist Party controls tighten

The National Committee of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches in China and the China Christian Council run state-approved churches and carry out pastoral work. They aim also to address the needs of faith within a socialist society, by balancing religious belief with allegiance to the party and country.

The meetings were led by Wang, whose role as chairman of the national committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference – the party’s top advisory body – includes overseeing religious affairs in the country.

The two groups had, over the past five years, upheld the principle that Protestantism in China must be Chinese in orientation and guided the Chinese Protestant community to unite closely around the party and the government, Xinhua quoted Wang as saying.

He called on the leaders to guide Protestant figures and believers to be patriotic and to enhance their identification with the nation, Chinese culture, the party, and socialism with Chinese characteristics.

He also urged them to “adhere to comprehensive and strict governance of religions, and carry out religious activities in accordance with laws and regulations”.

The party’s policy on freedom of religious belief must be “completely, accurately and comprehensively” implemented, and religions must adapt to the fact that China is a socialist country, Xi said.

The United States has placed China on its list of countries of “particular concern” under its Religious Freedom Act, over accusations of severe violations. International human rights groups have accused Beijing of crackdowns on Christianity, including a large-scale shutdown of house churches.

The annual US State Department report on International Religious Freedom released in May said Beijing had characterised a number of Christian groups as “cult organisations”, censored online posts referencing Jesus or the Bible, and removed articles published by Christianity-related platforms.

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In Beijing last week, Wang urged Chinese Christian groups to acquire a profound understanding of the party’s theories and policies on religion. They should implement these while adhering to the principles of independence and self-management, and engage in international exchanges on the basis of independence, equality, and mutual respect, he said.

China recognises five official religions – Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Protestantism and Catholicism. According to Boston University’s 2020 World Religion Database, cited by the US State Department report, about 7.4 per cent of Chinese identified as Christians.

A Pew Research Centre analysis of the latest available survey data collected by academic organisations in China says roughly 90 per cent of Christians in China are Protestant.