CONTINUING RELIGIOUS REPRESSION IN CHINA June 1993 Asia Watch Copyright 8 June 1993 by Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 93-78846 ISBN 1-56432-102-9 Asia Watch Asia Watch is an independent organization created in 1985 to monitor and promote internationally recognized human rights in Asia. The Chair is Jack Greenberg, the Vice Chair is Orville Schell, the Executive Director is Sidney Jones and the Washington Representative is Mike Jendrzejczyk. Asia Watch is a division of Human Rights Watch, which also includes Africa Watch, Americas Watch, Helsinki Watch and Middle East Watch. The Chair of Human Rights Watch is Robert L. Bernstein and the Vice Chair is Adrian DeWind. Kenneth Roth is acting Executive Director; Holly Burkhalter, Washington Director; Susan Osnos, Press Director. HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Human Rights Watch conducts regular, systematic investigations of human rights abuses in some sixty countries around the world. It addresses the human rights practices of governments of all political stripes, of all geopolitical alignments, and of all ethnic and religious persuasions. In internal wars it documents violations by both governments and rebel groups. Human Rights Watch defends freedom of thought and expression, due process of law and equal protection of the law; it documents and denounces murders, disappearances, torture, arbitrary imprisonment, exile, censorship and other abuses of internationally recognized human rights. Human Rights Watch began in 1978 with the founding of Helsinki Watch by a group of publishers, lawyers and other activists and now maintains offices in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, London, Moscow, Belgrade, Bucharest and Hong Kong. Today, it includes Africa Watch, Americas Watch, Asia Watch, Helsinki Watch, Middle East Watch, the Fund for Free Expression and three collaborative projects, the Arms Project, Prison Project and Women's Rights Project. Human Rights Watch is an independent, nongovernmental organization, supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations. It accepts no government funds, directly or indirectly. The executive committee includes Robert L. Bernstein, chair; Adrian W. DeWind, vice chair; Roland Algrant, Lisa Anderson, Peter D. Bell, Alice Brown, William Carmichael, Dorothy Cullman, Irene Diamond, Jonathan Fanton, Jack Greenberg, Alice H. Henkin, Stephen L. Kass, Marina Pinto Kaufman, Alexander MacGregor, Bruce Rabb, Orville Schell, Gary Sick, Malcolm Smith and Robert Wedgeworth. The staff includes Kenneth Roth, acting executive director; Holly J. Burkhalter, Washington director; Gara LaMarche, associate director; Ellen Lutz, California director; Susan Osnos, press director; Jemera Rone, counsel; Michal Longfelder, Development director; Allyson Collins, research associate; Joanna Weschler, Prison Project director; Kenneth Anderson, Arms Project director; and Dorothy Q. Thomas, Women's Rights Project director. The executive directors of the divisions of Human Rights Watch are Abdullahi An-Na'im, Africa Watch; Juan E. Méndez, Americas Watch; Sidney Jones, Asia Watch; Jeri Laber, Helsinki Watch; Andrew Whitley, Middle East Watch; and Gara LaMarche, the Fund for Free Expression. Addresses for Human Rights Watch 485 Fifth Avenue 1522 K Street, N.W., #910 New York, NY 10017-6104 Washington, DC 20005 Tel: (212) 972-8400 Tel: (202) 371-6592 Fax: (212) 972-0905 Fax: (202) 371-0124 10951 West Pico Blvd., #203 90 Borough High Street Los Angeles, CA 90064 London, UK SE1 1LL Tel: (310) 475-3070 Tel: (071) 378-8008 Fax: (310) 475-5613 Fax: (071) 378-8029 CONTINUING RELIGIOUS REPRESSION IN CHINA June 1993 Asia Watch A Division of Human Rights Watch 485 Fifth Avenue 1522 K Street, NW, Suite 910 New York, NY 1001710017----61046104 Washington, DC 2000520005----12021202 Tel. (212) 972972----84008400 Tel. (202) 371371----65926592 Fax. (212) 972972----09050905 Fax. (202) 371371----0124101241 CONTINUING RELIGIOUS REPRESSION IN CHINA I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 1 II. CENTRAL GOVERNMENT POLICY ......................................................................................................................................................... 2 III. LOCAL INITIATIVES ................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Freedom of Expression and Control of Religious Literature ........................................................................................ 5 Control of Religious Training.......................................................................................................................................................... 5 IV. CASE STUDIES OF ABUSE OF PROTESTANTS................................................................................................................................. 6 Henan Province ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Yunnan Province...................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Shandong Province............................................................................................................................................................................... 8 Shaanxi Province.................................................................................................................................................................................... 9 V. CASE STUDIES OF ABUSE OF CATHOLICS ...................................................................................................................................... 10 The Funeral of Bishop Fan Xueyan............................................................................................................................................... 10 Deaths and Disappearances of Bishops and Priests....................................................................................................... 11 The "Counterrevolutionary Clique" of Father Zhu Hongsheng................................................................................... 14 VI. GENERAL HARASSMENT OF PROTESTANTS................................................................................................................................... 15 VII. LIST OF DETENTIONS AND DEATHS IN CUSTODY ....................................................................................................................... 16 Detained...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16 Deaths in Custody or Shortly After Release ......................................................................................................................... 22 VIII. RELEASES .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 23 Parole and restricted movement ............................................................................................................................................... 23 Released: conditions unknown................................................................................................................................................... 30 Released without conditions ....................................................................................................................................................... 33 Unconfirmed Releases..................................................................................................................................................................... 33 APPENDIX 1: ON CORRECTLY DEALING WITH THE RELIGIOUS ISSUE................................................................................................... 35 APPENDIX 2: REFLECTIONS ON RESIDENTIAL SURVEILLANCE ................................................................................................................. 37 APPENDIX 3: THE TRIAL OF ZHU HONGSHENG................................................................................................................................................. 41 APPENDIX 4: REGULATIONS FROM DAISHAN COUNTY............................................................................................................................... 48 APPENDIX 5: PROVISIONAL REGULATIONS IN FUJIAN PROVINCE......................................................................................................... 50 CONTINUING RELIGIOUS REPRESSION IN CHINA I.I.I. IN INTRODUCTIONTRODUCTION Two announcements by the Chinese government, in February and March 1993, heralded the releases of some eighteen Catholic prisoners prior to the expiration of their terms. Then in May, the Chinese reported the release on parole of Bishop Casimir Wang Milu, the "black bishop of Tianshui," after ten years in prison. The implication, that the actions signified the relaxation of strictures on religious practice, seriously