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| | The Catholic Patriotic Association (CPA) reports that 5.3 million persons worship in its churches and it is estimated that there are an additional 12 million or more persons who worship in unregistered Catholic churches that do not affiliate with the CPA. According to official sources, the government-sanctioned CPA has more than 70 bishops, nearly 3,000 priests and nuns, 6,000 churches and meeting places, and 12 seminaries. There are thought to be approximately 40 bishops operating "underground," some of whom are in prison or under house arrest. During the reporting period, at least three bishops were ordained with papal approval. In September 2007 the official media reported that Liu Bainian, CPA vice president, stated that the young bishops were to be selected to serve dioceses without bishops and to replace older bishops. Of the 97 dioceses in the country, 40 reportedly did not have an acting bishop in 2007, and more than 30 bishops were over 80 years of age. | | The Catholic Patriotic Association (CPA) reports that 5.3 million persons worship in its churches and it is estimated that there are an additional 12 million or more persons who worship in unregistered Catholic churches that do not affiliate with the CPA. According to official sources, the government-sanctioned CPA has more than 70 bishops, nearly 3,000 priests and nuns, 6,000 churches and meeting places, and 12 seminaries. There are thought to be approximately 40 bishops operating "underground," some of whom are in prison or under house arrest. During the reporting period, at least three bishops were ordained with papal approval. In September 2007 the official media reported that Liu Bainian, CPA vice president, stated that the young bishops were to be selected to serve dioceses without bishops and to replace older bishops. Of the 97 dioceses in the country, 40 reportedly did not have an acting bishop in 2007, and more than 30 bishops were over 80 years of age. |
| − | ===State atheism and religious discrimination===
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| − | ''See also:'' [[China and atheism]] and [[Communism and religious persecution]] and [[Persecution of Christians in the People's Republic of China]]
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| − | China has the world's largest [[atheism|atheist]] population.<ref>[http://www.thechapmans.nl/news/Atheist.pdf Top 50 Countries With Highest Proportion of Atheists / Agnostics (Zuckerman, 2005)]</ref><ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/23/a-surprising-map-of-where-the-worlds-atheists-live/ A surprising map of where the world’s atheists live], ''Washington Post'' By Max Fisher and Caitlin Dewey May 23, 2013</ref> China has [[state atheism]] (see: [[China and atheism]]).
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| − | The Government restricts legal religious practice to government-sanctioned organizations and registered religious groups and places of worship, and seeks to control the growth and scope of the activity of both registered and unregistered religious groups, including "house churches." Government authorities limit proselytism, particularly by foreigners and unregistered religious groups, but permit proselytism in state-approved religious venues and private settings. The Chinese government explicitly prohibits students and civil servants from participating in certain religious practices, even when not in school or at work.<ref>[https://news.yahoo.com/china-bans-ramadan-fast-muslim-northwest-103756197.html Didi Tang "China bans Ramadan fast in Muslim northwest." July 3, 2014. Associated Press.]</ref>
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| − | [[File:Great Mosque Xi an China.jpg|thumb|330px|Great Mosque of Xi'an.]]
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| − | In 2008, the Government's repression of religious freedom intensified in some areas, including in Tibetan areas and in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Unregistered Protestant religious groups in Beijing reported intensified harassment from government authorities in the lead up to the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Media and China-based sources reported that municipal authorities in Beijing closed some house churches or asked them to stop meeting during the 2008 Summer Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. During the reporting period, officials detained and interrogated several foreigners about their religious activities and in several cases alleged that the foreigners had engaged in "illegal religious activities" (alleged) and canceled their visas. Media reported that the total number of expatriates expelled by the Government due to concerns about their religious activities exceeded one hundred. Officials in the XUAR, the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), and other Tibetan areas tightly controlled religious activity. The Government sought the forcible return of several Uighur Muslims living abroad, some of whom had reportedly protested restrictions on the Hajj and encouraged other Muslims to pray and fast during Ramadan. Followers of Tibetan Buddhism, including those in the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region and most Tibetan autonomous areas, faced more restrictions on their religious practice and ability to organize than Buddhists in other parts of the country. "Patriotic education" campaigns in the TAR and other Tibetan regions, which required monks and nuns to sign statements personally denouncing the Dalai Lama, and other new restrictions on religious freedom were major factors that led monks and nuns to mount peaceful protests at a number of monasteries on March 10, 2008. The protests and subsequent security response gave way to violence in Lhasa by March 14 and 15.
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| − | Moreover, Christians, including the Catholic, Protestant Christians, are facing societal hostility generated by the government, and the Christians are facing difficulties when comes to the decision of ascension in the governmental (regime) enterprises and will be arrested if evangelizing on governmental schools' campus (public schools, but with heavy involvement from the Communist party branches).
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| − | "Underground" Roman Catholic clergy faced repression, in large part due to their avowed loyalty to the Vatican, which the Government accused of interfering in the country's internal affairs. The Government continued to repress groups that are designated as "cults," most of which included several Christian groups and Falun Gong.
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| − | Religious and ethnic minority groups such as Tibetan Buddhists and Uighur Muslims experienced societal discrimination not only because of their religious beliefs but also because of their status as ethnic minorities with distinct languages and cultures. After the March 2008 protests in Lhasa and other Tibetan areas, there were reports of increased tensions between Tibetan Buddhists and Hui Muslims.
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| − | The Falun Gong is a self-described spiritual movement that blends aspects of Taoism, Buddhism, and the meditation techniques and physical exercises of qigong (a traditional Chinese exercise discipline), with the teachings of Falun Gong leader Li Hongzhi. There are estimated to have been at least 2.1 million adherents of Falun Gong before the Government cleansed and persecute the group in 1999. Hundreds of thousands may practice Falun Gong privately, but with serious risks, and once discovered by the government agents, the practitioners will be jailed, losing jobs, and may not even attend the universities. Moreover, the practitioners will risk the risk of having their organs live-harvested by the Communist government.<ref>https://www.theepochtimes.com/new-documentary-secret-audio-recordings-of-politburo-standing-committee-members-reveal-vast-state-run-enterprise-of-live-organ-harvesting_2263247.html</ref>
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| − | === Suppression of religion through murder and torture ===
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| − | :{{See also|Atheistic communism and torture|China and involuntary organ harvesting}}
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| − | The Chinese communist regime has used beatings, harassment and torture to suppress religion in China and continues to use these practices.<ref name="Amnesty1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.refworld.org/docid/3b83b6e00.html |title=China: The crackdown on Falun Gong and other so-called "heretical organizations"|date=23 March 2000|publisher=Amnesty International|accessdate=17 March 2010}}</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AESx5u6yMw Militant Atheist extremist regime persecuting and torturing Christians in China]</ref><ref>[https://www.apnews.com/61cdf7f5dfc34575aa643523b3c6b3fe Woman describes torture, beatings in Chinese detention camp] By MARIA DANILOVA, AP News, November 26, 2018</ref>
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| − | Several researchers — for example, Canadian human rights lawyer David Matas, former Canadian parliamentarian David Kilgour, and the investigative journalist Ethan Gutmann estimate that tens of thousands of Falun Gong prisoners in Communist China have been killed to supply a financially lucrative trade in human organs and cadavers, and that these human rights abuses may be an ongoing concern.<ref>[http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/slaughter-mass-killings-organ-harvesting Review of: Ethan Gutmann, “''The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting and China’s Secret Solution to Its Dissident Problem''”, (Prometheus Books, 2014).]</ref>
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| | ==Disputed territories== | | ==Disputed territories== |