Freedom of Religion
Transcript (PDF) (Text)
Most experts agree that Chinese citizens will not enjoy substantial religious freedom until they are free to form unsupervised religious associations and organizations. Between 1949 and 1978, the Chinese government destroyed China's relatively underdeveloped civil society. But since 1978, the Chinese people have rebuilt some of the institutions of civil society, despite strict government limits.
The U.S. State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor issued its annual report on international religious freedom, as required under U.S. law. The report, released on September 15, includes a section on China that provides an overview of the repressive environment for religion throughout China, despite a guarantee of religious freedom in China's Constitution. A subsection focuses on the situation in Tibetan areas of China. The publication sets out trends and developments, and provides details on cases of repression against Christians, Buddhists, and Muslims in China, as well as practitioners in spiritual groups like Falun Gong.
Transcript (PDF) (Text)
According to government statistics, China has more than 20 million Muslims, more than 40,000 Islamic places of worship, and more than 45,000 imams. Islam is an officially sanctioned religion, and Article 36 of the Chinese Constitution nominally ensures freedom of religious belief and "normal religious activity" for Muslims in China.
Congressional-Executive Commission on China | www.cecc.gov
CECC Releases 2003 Annual Report on Human Rights and the Rule of Law in China
October 2, 2003
Congressional-Executive Commission on China | www.cecc.gov
CECC's Congressional Members Urge President Bush to Support a China Resolution at the U.N. Human Rights Commission Meeting
March 13, 2002
(Washington, DC)—All 18 Members of Congress who sit on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China sent a letter to President Bush today calling on him to support a resolution on China's human rights practices at the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) meeting in Geneva, which opens March 18.