Freedom of Religion

A new regulation that took effect in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) on December 1, 2009, includes provisions addressing the "negative impact" various religious activities have on minors, according to a November 19 Xinhua report. Although the full text of the XUAR Regulation on the Protection of Minors appears to be unavailable on the Internet and in legal databases, if the final version retains provisions included in the draft regulation considered for deliberation in June, it will expand existing legal controls over children's right to freedom of religion in the XUAR and parents' right to impart religious teachings.

Three provincial governments have issued new or amended regulations on religious affairs to take effect in the summer and fall of 2009, continuing a trend in issuing revised or new provincial-level legislation on religion since the State Council Regulation on Religious Affairs (RRA) entered into force in March 2005.

In the early morning hours on September 13, 2009, Fushan county authorities in Shanxi province led over 400 public security officers in a violent raid against an unregistered Protestant church called the Shanxi Linfen Christian Church, according to eyewitness accounts reported by ChinaAid on September 15, AsiaNews Italy (ANI) on September 17, and Radio Free Asia (RFA) on September 21. The raid lasted for several hours and reportedly involved the use of two bulldozers to raze the factory building that served as a meeting place for the church. Linfen municipal officials characterized the raid as an effort to "ban illegal buildings," according to the RFA report.

In recent months, two local governments in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) published reports on the government and Communist Party-led political training of Muslim women religious figures known as büwi. (Büwi is a Uyghur word transliterated in the Chinese-language reports cited here as buwei.

《江苏省宗教事务条例》 第一章 总则 第一条 为了保护公民宗教信仰自由，维护宗教界合法权益，依法管理宗教事务，根据《中华人民共和国宪法》和有关法律、行政法规的规定，结合本省实际，制定本条例。 第二条 本条例所称的宗教，是指佛教、道教、伊斯兰教、天主教和基督教。 第三条 公民有宗教信仰自由。任何组织和个人不得强制公民信仰宗教或者不信仰宗教，不得歧视信仰宗教和不信仰宗教的公民、信仰不同宗教的公民应当互相尊重。 第四条 宗教团体、宗教活动场所、信教公民的合法权益受法律保护。 宗教法动必须在宪法、法律、法规规定的范围内进行。任何组织和个人不得利用宗教危害国家安全，破坏社会秩序，妨碍国家行政、司法和教育制度的实施，损害公民身心健康。 第五条 宗教团体和宗教事务不受境外组织和个人的支配，坚持独立自主自办的原则。 县级以上地方各级人民政府宗教事务部门（以下简称宗教事务部门）主管本行政区域内的宗教事务，其他有关部门按照各自职责，配合做好宗教事务工作。 第二章 宗教团体和宗教教职人员 第七条 本条例所称宗教团体，是指依法成立的佛教协会、道教协会、伊斯兰教协会、天主教爱国会、天主教教务委员会、天主教教区、基督教三自爱国运动委员会、基督教协会等宗教社会组织。 第八条 本条例所称宗教教职人员，是指佛教的比丘、比丘尼，道教的道士、道姑，伊斯兰教的伊玛目、阿訇，天主教的主教、神甫、修士、修女，基督教的主教、牧师、长老、传道等具有教职身份的人员。 第九条 成立宗教团体应当依照国家有关社会团体登记管理的规定办理登记手续。 第十条 宗教团体享有下列权利： （一） 维护本团体及其信教公民的合法权益； （二） 按照本团体的章程开展活动； （三） 认定本团体的宗教教职人员； （四） 举办社会公益事业和开办以自养为目的的生产、服务业； （五） 培养宗教教职人员； （六） 进行宗教文化学术研究和交流，开展宗教方面的对外友好交往； （七） 按照国家规定出版、制作、发行宗教出版物。 第十一条 宗教团体应当履行下列义务： （一） 遵守国家宪法、法律和法规，执行国家的宗教政策； （二） 接受宗教事务部门及其他有关部门依法实施的行政管理； （三） 对信教公民进行爱国主义、社会主义和法制教育。 第十二条 省宗教团体可以开办宗教院校。开办宗教院校应当按照规定向政府有关部门申请办理核准登记手续。

The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) government is currently considering a draft regulation that would tighten formal legal prohibitions on children's freedom of religion and parents' right to impart religious teachings. A draft XUAR regulation on the protection of minors, submitted for deliberation to the Standing Committee of the XUAR People's Congress in June, adds new language that elaborates on and tightens enforcement of an existing XUAR legal prohibition on children's freedom of religion that already constitutes the harshest known legal provision on the issue within China.