China: CCP implementing new regulations to control religious beliefs

The draft regulations for "Provisions on the Administration of Foreign Religious Activities in the People's Republic of China", published by the Ministry of Justice in mid-November were in open to public comments till December 17 and are expected to become law early this year, Zee News reported.

The draft law comprises 40 Articles clustered under 5 Chapters, the Indian news channel reported.

Chapter-I (Article 1-5) primarily focuses on defining terms such as 'foreigners' and 'religious activities of foreigners in China'. The Article-5 states that 'Foreigners in the territory conducting religious activities shall abide by China’s laws, regulations and rules, respect the principles of Chinese religion's independence  and must not violate public order and good customs in China.'

Use of the phrase 'China's religious independence' in Chapter-1  of the new rules underlines the government's effort to rid the country of foreign influences. It is primarily aimed at Christian groups as Christianity is one of the fastest growing religions and lately foreigners have had some freedom in China to live as Christians, reports Zee News.

Chapter-Ill (Article 22-29) specifies that the foreign missionaries shall be allowed to conduct friendly religious exchanges and be required to demonstrate that they are "friendly to China" in their country of origin, reports the Indian news channel.

The phrase 'friendly to China' is an obvious pointer towards Tibet. China has been trying to control Tibetan Buddhism since it occupied Tibet in 1950. In 1995, China announced their own Panchen Lama, after abducting the real 11th  Panchen Lama just two days past his name was announced by the Dalai Lama, Zee News reported.

The Chinese government's move is aimed at using the Beijing-appointed puppet Panchen Lama for legitimizing the appointment of their own Dalai Lama.

However, China-appointed Panchen Lama is widely considered a false Panchen Lama. With the new regulations, China would be further altering the real doctrine of Buddhism in line with Chinese characteristics, while pressurizing the Tibetan religious leadership to fall in line, reports Zee News.

As per the media reports, CCP has always been seen above the nation and its citizen.

"Now, with the new regulations China would be enforcing CCP’s supremacy over the religions. The current hierarchical system of CCP is well established with Xi Jinping being the core of the party. Now with the almighty God being in centrality of every religion, China’s next attempt could be to superimpose Xi Jinping over the God," the news channel reported.