Freedom of Religion
Local governments and educational institutions in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) continued in 2007 to impose religious restrictions on Muslims' observance of the holiday of Ramadan. Local governments and schools called for increased controls over religious activities during Ramadan, banning students from fasting, forbidding teachers and other state employees from engaging in religious activities, and requiring local restaurants to remain open during the holiday.
Authorities in western China have closed four businesses owned or headed by local and overseas Christians, reflecting their concerns over perceived instability and "foreign infiltration" from overseas religious groups. According to a series of reports published by the U.S.-based nongovernmental organization China Aid Association (CAA), in September, authorities in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) shut down two businesses owned or headed by local Protestants, accusing both businesses of conducting illegal religious activities. Officials accused one business of "seriously endanger[ing] the security of the state and social and political security" by "illegally preaching Christianity" among ethnic Uighurs in the region.
The Chinese government State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) issued legal measures on July 18, 2007, that if fully implemented could transform Tibetan Buddhism as it exists in China into a less substantial, more completely state-managed institution, and further isolate Tibetan Buddhist communities from their counterparts outside China. The "Measures on the Management of the Reincarnation of Living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism" (MMR) (Web site of the SARA (in Chinese), 18 July 07) take effect on September 1.
A court in Ganzi (Kardze) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (TAP), located in Sichuan province, sentenced the abbot (khenpo) of a Tibetan Buddhist monastery on July 16, 2007, to three years' imprisonment for endangering state security with "anti-government propaganda" and by "incitement of [the] masses," according to a February 2, 2008, Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) report. The Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) 2007 Annual Report named Abbot Jinpa of Taglung Monastery, located in Chogtsang village, Seda (Serthar) county, as one of nine Tibetans whom Ganzi authorities detained between March and August 2006, according to news media and non-government organization reports issued between June and September 2006.
Congressional-Executive Commission on China | www.cecc.gov
CECC Statement for United Nations' Human Rights Day 2007:
China Continues To Fall Short of Its Commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
December 9, 2007
The following text was retrieved from the Chinese government's official Web site on February 6, 2013.
The following is a translation prepared by the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) of the "Management Measures for the Reincarnation of Living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism " issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs on July 18, 2007. The Chinese text was retrieved from the State Administration of Religious Affairs Web site on August 2, 2007.
State Religious Affairs Bureau Order
Order No. Five
Chinese authorities seized more than 58 million illegal publications and four pirated DVD production lines during a 100-Day Anti-Piracy Campaign launched by the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Public Security, and eight other central government agencies, according to a November 27 Xinhua report (via the People's Daily Web site). According to the report, authorities investigated more than 10,000 cases of intellectual property rights (IPR) infringement and sentenced at least two individuals to life imprisonment during the campaign, which began on July 15 and concluded on October 25.
Two provincial-level governments issued new religious regulations in September that enter into force in December and January. The Chongqing Municipal People's Congress Standing Committee issued the Chongqing Municipal Regulation on Religious Affairs (Chongqing RRA) on September 29. The Chongqing RRA, effective on December 1, makes void the 1997 Chongqing Municipal Regulation on the Management on Religious Affairs. The Hunan Province People's Congress Standing Committee passed a new Hunan Province Regulation on Religious Affairs (Hunan RRA) on September 30. The Hunan RRA becomes effective on January 1, 2007, and annuls the 2000 Hunan Province Regulation on the Management of Religious Affairs on that date.