Will Religion Flourish Under China's New Leadership
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WILL RELIGION FLOURISH UNDER CHINA’S NEW LEADERSHIP? HEARING BEFORE THE CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION JULY 24, 2003 Printed for the use of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.cecc.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 89–733 PDF WASHINGTON : 2003 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 11:32 Oct 15, 2003 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 89733.TXT China1 PsN: China1 CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS House Senate JIM LEACH, Iowa, Chairman CHUCK HAGEL, Nebraska, Co-Chairman DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming DAVID DREIER, California SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas FRANK WOLF, Virginia PAT ROBERTS, Kansas JOE PITTS, Pennsylvania GORDON SMITH, Oregon SANDER LEVIN, Michigan MAX BAUCUS, Montana MARCY KAPTUR, Ohio CARL LEVIN, Michigan SHERROD BROWN, Ohio DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California DAVID WU, Oregon BYRON DORGAN, North Dakota EXECUTIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS PAULA DOBRIANSKY, Department of State* GRANT ALDONAS, Department of Commerce* D. CAMERON FINDLAY, Department of Labor** LORNE CRANER, Department of State* JAMES KELLY, Department of State* JOHN FOARDE, Staff Director DAVID DORMAN, Deputy Staff Director * Appointed in the 107th Congress; not yet formally appointed in the 108th Congress. ** Resigned July 2003. (II) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 11:32 Oct 15, 2003 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 0486 Sfmt 0486 89733.TXT China1 PsN: China1 C O N T E N T S Page STATEMENTS Opening statement of Hon. James A. Leach, a U.S. Representative From Iowa, Chairman, Congressional-Executive Commission on China .................. 1 Schriver, Randall G., Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Department of State, Washington, DC ................................................. 3 Gaer, Felice D., Co-Chair, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Washington, DC .................................................................................. 14 Fewsmith, Joseph, professor, director of east Asia interdisciplinary studies, Boston University, Boston, MA ........................................................................... 20 Lovejoy, Charles D., Jr., associate, U.S. Catholic China Bureau, Princeton Junction, NJ ......................................................................................................... 24 Aikman, David B.T., former senior correspondent, Time magazine, Lovettsville, VA .................................................................................................... 27 Armijo-Hussein, Jacqueline M., assistant professor, department of religious studies, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA ...................................................... 29 APPENDIX PREPARED STATEMENTS Schriver, Randall G ................................................................................................. 38 Gaer, Felice D .......................................................................................................... 42 Fewsmith, Joseph .................................................................................................... 46 Lovejoy, Charles D ................................................................................................... 49 Aikman, David B.T .................................................................................................. 52 Armijo-Hussein, Jacqueline M ................................................................................ 55 Hagel, Hon. Chuck, U.S. Senator From Nebraska, Co-Chairman, Congres- sional-Executive Commission on China ............................................................. 59 (III) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 11:32 Oct 15, 2003 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 89733.TXT China1 PsN: China1 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 11:32 Oct 15, 2003 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 89733.TXT China1 PsN: China1 WILL RELIGION FLOURISH UNDER CHINA’S NEW LEADERSHIP? THURSDAY, JULY 24, 2003 CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA, Washington, DC. The hearing was convened, pursuant to notice, at 10:40 a.m., in room 2200, Rayburn House Office building, Representative James A. Leach, [Chairman of the Commission] presiding. Also present: Senator Gordon Smith and Representative Joseph R. Pitts. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES A. LEACH, A U.S. REP- RESENTATIVE FROM IOWA, CHAIRMAN, CONGRESSIONAL- EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA Chairman LEACH. The Commission will come to order. Let me first make a comment. Senator Hagel cannot be with us this morning. He is meeting in a sudden circumstance with the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority. In addition, Secretary Powell is meeting—and I just broke up with it and he is not finished yet—in the International Relations Committee room on the Liberian matter. Without objection, I am going to place in the record a statement of Senator Hagel. [The prepared statement of Senator Hagel appears in the appendix.] Chairman LEACH. Let me just say, in terms of opening, that the Commission convenes this morning to hear several distinguished witnesses give us their thoughts on the current condition and treat- ment of religious believers, practitioners, and groups in China. We have asked them to look ahead to the potential of change under China’s new leadership and explore the options open to the United States to prompt the development of new attitudes and poli- cies toward religion in China. Religious freedom around the world remains among the most important issues of concern for most Americans. For that reason, freedom of religion has been a central topic in our human rights discussions with China for many years. Religious freedom issues, for example, were a key part of discus- sions last year between President Bush and then-Chinese President Jiang Zemin in Crawford, TX. Following that meeting, President Bush told reporters that he had reminded President Jiang of the importance of China freeing prisoners of conscience and giving fair treatment to peoples of faith. (1) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 11:32 Oct 15, 2003 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 89733.TXT China1 PsN: China1 2 President Bush also raised the importance of respecting human rights in Tibet, and encouraging more dialogue with Tibetan lead- ers. This year, the State Department included China in its list of countries that deny religious freedom, a finding that the U.S. Com- mission on International Religious Freedom [CIRF] also supported. We are happy to welcome witnesses from both institutions this morning. China’s Constitution guarantees protection of normal religious activity. Despite this guarantee of the Chinese Government, the Communist Party requires that religion be congruent with patriot- ism, which has resulted in widespread repression of religious prac- tice. In Tibetan and Uighur areas where separatist sentiment is often interwoven with religious conviction, repression of religion is par- ticularly harsh. Chinese authorities often see separatist sentiment as a precursor to terrorism, even when religious practitioners express such senti- ment peacefully. The Chinese Government requires religious practitioners to meet in government-approved mosques, churches, monasteries, and tem- ples. Authorities oversee the selection of religious leaders and mon- itor religious education. The Chinese Government often labels unregistered religious groups and movements as cults, and those who engage in such ac- tivities can be arrested with charges of disturbing social order. In many cases, local authorities enforce regulations that are more re- strictive than those enforced at the national level. Despite these risks, a growing number of religious believers choose to worship outside the government-controlled religious framework. More broadly, the Commission is particularly keen to learn from our witnesses whether or not they think that the rise of a new group of Chinese leaders in the past few months holds any promise of a change in government policy toward religion. Some observers, for example, have commented that the new lead- ership group may wish to encourage the social services activities of religious groups so that faith-based groups would take up some of the critical social services that governments at all levels in China can no longer sustain. While we all might prefer that religious beliefs, practices, organi- zations, and social action be allowed on their own merits, the Com- mission, for its part, would welcome any significant relaxation of current strictures, whatever their motive. With these comments in mind, let me welcome our panel of dis- tinguished witnesses. The first panel is composed of the distin- guished Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pa- cific Affairs, Mr. Randall Schriver, who will present the Depart- ment’s perspective. Mr. Schriver. VerDate 11-MAY-2000 11:32 Oct 15, 2003 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 89733.TXT China1 PsN: China1 3 STATEMENT OF RANDALL SCHRIVER, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EAST ASIAN AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS, DE- PARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, DC Mr. SCHRIVER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for the work of the Commission, and thanks for inviting me here this morning to discuss this very important topic of religious freedom in China. I do have a full statement. I