Refugee Review Tribunal AUSTRALIA

RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE

Research Response Number: CHN35048 Country: Date: 16 June 2009

Keywords: China – – – Catholics

This response was prepared by the Research & Information Services Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. This research response may not, under any circumstance, be cited in a decision or any other document. Anyone wishing to use this information may only cite the primary source material contained herein.

Questions

1. Please provide information concerning the treatment of Catholics in City in Sichuan Province from 2006. 2. Please provide information concerning the current treatment of Catholics in City, Yunan Province.

RESPONSE

1. Please provide information concerning the treatment of Catholics in Panzhihua City in Sichuan Province from 2006.

No information was found on the treatment of Catholics in Panzhihua City in Sichuan Province from 2006 and little information was found on the Catholic community in this area of China. The Guide to the in China (2008 edition) provides the following entry for Panzhihua City:

Panzhihua Industrial City (97 km west of Huli) Population: 800 000 Dukou Saint Peter Church [617000] Tel.:86-812-258 11 11 Priest: Huang Shengjin

West: Geliping Pingjiang Catholic Church Tel.: 86-812-559 02 69 East: Datian Catholic Church (Charbonnier, Fr. J. 2008, Guide to the Catholic Church in China, China Catholic Communication, Singapore, p. 285 – Attachment 1).

Tony Lambert in his China’s Christian Millions (2006) provides little information on the Catholic community in this province: “In 1989 the number of Roman Catholics in the province was officially estimated at 300,000 meeting in 142 churches”. This author does state that “There is no doubt from my personal observation that Sichuan operates a tight policy of religious control on Christians, especially in more remote areas and in cities off the tourist track (Lambert, T. 2006, China’s Christian Millions, Monarch Books, Oxford, pp. 270-272 – Attachment 2).

A current, brief overview of (Protestant) in Sichuan Province is given on pp. 42- 43 of the Department’s November 2008 paper China’s Protestants and Catholics (DIAC Country Research Section 2008, China’s Protestants and Catholics, November, pp.42-43 – Attachment 3). Elsewhere this report provides the following overview of the treatment of Catholics in China:

Most Catholic analysts agree that since the 1990s, the notion of an underground Catholic Church had changed in meaning, with clergy and laity fully known to the Chinese authorities and no longer engaged in covert activities. But they refuse to register because they are loyal to the principle that the CPA [Catholic Patriotic Association] is not recognised by the Pope. According to La Stampa, since the 1990s underground priests and bishops have been mostly free to lead their own services, “except for the occasional official harassment.” While emphasising that this observation is not intended to minimise the experience of persecution, La Stampa points out that times have changed drastically “from a period when priests had to totally conceal their identities and activities.” Lam concurs with this view, arguing that the term “underground” has become a misnomer: local authorities are “almost always aware of who does not belong or worship at state-sponsored churches.”

Similar to the Protestant experience described in section 4.4, official and unofficial priests co- exist, sometimes working together and sharing facilities “especially in areas where the religious affairs and state security officials are sympathetic or apathetic.” According to HRW [Human Rights Watch], the key to avoiding arrest is discretion. As long as meetings of Catholic congregants remain small, discreet and apolitical, “officials often turned a blind eye. Reported detentions followed the celebration of masses that attracted large numbers, for public celebration of important Catholic feast days and during pastoral retreats.” But in some places underground Catholics continue to be arrested and harassed. Again, similar to the Protestant experience, the ability of underground Catholics to practice their faith depends overwhelmingly on the attitude of local officials (DIAC Country Research Section 2008, China’s Protestants and Catholics, November, pp.27-28 – Attachment 3).

In April 2005, the Catholic World News website reported on the tension between the official and the underground Catholic Church in Sichuan on the eve of the expected appointment by the Chinese government, without Vatican approval, of two bishops in the province. The report states that “Their appointment could cause new frictions between clergy and laity in Sichuan, and exacerbate conflicts among the Catholic priests of their respective dioceses”; and points out more generally that “In Sichuan particularly, where the provincial government is dominated by hard-line Communist ideologues, the vacancies in diocesan leadership may appear as a perfect opportunity to gain tighter control over the Church, by putting Party loyalists at the helm”:

Chinese government officials are planning to appoint two Catholic priests as bishops of dioceses in the Sichuan province, without Vatican approval and despite heavy resistance among the laity, according to informed sources in China.

Father Lei Shiying, a high-ranking official of the government-sponsored Catholic Patriotic Association, is reportedly in line for an appointment as Bishop of . And Father Li Zhigang is rumored to be the government’s choice as Bishop of .

Catholics in Sichuan who are loyal to the Holy See fear that these appointments, if they are made, would aggravate rifts within the Church. By making the appointments without permission from the Holy See, the regime would seriously complicate the already troubled relations among Catholics in China, where the “underground” Church contends with the government-recognized churches of the Patriotic Catholic Association.

…In January 2000, in the most blatant recent affront to the Vatican, the Beijing government organized the ordination of 6 new bishops for the “official” Catholic community, despite clear and repeated objections from Rome. The Vatican denounced those ordinations as “a painful wound to Church communion.” Canon law stipulates that the penalty for consecrating bishops without authorization from the Holy See is excommunication.

PROGRESS IN DANGER

More recently, however, the Chinese government has accepted some Vatican influence in the selection of bishops, and in January 2004, in a minor breakthrough, the Vatican’s choice, Bishop Peter Feng Xiunmao, was ordained as coadjutor bishop of Hengshui. The proposed appointments in Sichuan, made without Vatican approval, would be a major step backwards.

But the proposed appointments in Sichuan could be damaging to the Church for other reasons. Each of the two priests reportedly chosen by government officials to serve as bishops in Sichuan has won favor with political authorities, while incurring widespread dislike among the Catholic faithful-probably because of their open political maneuvering for promotion. Their appointment could cause new frictions between clergy and laity in Sichuan, and exacerbate conflicts among the Catholic priests of their respective dioceses.

Finally, each of the two priests-Fathers Lei Shiying and Li Zhigang-has allegedly been involved in an affair with a woman, and in at least one case has fathered a child, according to Catholic sources in Sichuan. Thus the bishops could become a source of scandal for the Church. Some local Catholics fear that the government’s choices in Sichuan may be motivated by a deliberate desire to discredit Catholics in the province, or to encourage dissension within the Church. Several years ago, in the Yunan province, enraged Catholics actually drove a bishop out of his own cathedral when they learned that he was living with a woman, and he was never allowed to return.

There is no dispute that the Church needs new bishops in Sichuan. Most of the dioceses in the province are leaderless; the few remaining bishops recognized by the government are octogenarians. Catholics living in the province estimate that there are about 250,000 Catholics living in the five dioceses of Sichuan, and a nearly equal number in two dioceses in the neighboring city of , which is historically a part of the Sichuan province.

Even the proud Catholics of Sichuan hesitate to mention the numerical strength of the faithful in the province, for fear of attracting adverse attention from government officials. The Chinese Communist Party is notoriously sensitive about the extent of religious influence; the Central Committee recently held a special meeting to discuss the estimates of the Christian population offered by David Aikman, a former Time magazine correspondent, in his book Jesus in Beijing.

That obsessive concern about the number of Christians points to a deeper fear among Chinese officials that religious beliefs could undermine the Party’s absolute control. In Sichuan particularly, where the provincial government is dominated by hard-line Communist ideologues, the vacancies in diocesan leadership may appear as a perfect opportunity to gain tighter control over the Church, by putting Party loyalists at the helm (‘The government’s reported plan to appoint its own new bishops endangers hope for progress in relations between Beijing and Rome’ 2005, Catholic World News website, April http://www.catholicculture.org/news/features/index.cfm?recnum=37848 – Accessed 15 June 2009 – Attachment 4).

In 2003, BBC News provided the following information on a small Catholic community in the Dengchi Valley area in Sichuan province:

At dawn in the Dengchi Valley, deep in the wild mountains of south-west China, local farmers have already been walking for hours through the darkness, bundled up in padded cotton jackets and woollen caps. They have come to meet at the Dengchi Valley Cathedral, an old wooden church built over 150 years ago by French Jesuit missionaries in the province of Sichuan, and home to a flock of more than 1000 Chinese Catholics.

Father Benedict Yang is the cathedral’s energetic young priest. He has just graduated from a seminary in the city, where he learnt what would shock Catholics in other parts of the world – that the Dengchi Valley congregation is part of the Communist Party-controlled Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, an organisation whose head is not the Pope, but the Chinese Government.

The Communist Party is fearful of foreign influence, and jealously maintains control over all organised groups within China. So Father Benedict and his flock are not allowed to have any contact with the Vatican.

In his sermon, Father Benedict must preach the use of contraceptives, and explain to his flock that former leader Mao Zedong has gone to heaven – anathema to believers elsewhere in the Catholic world. Father Benedict struggles to explain the contradictions of being a Catholic in China.

“Our government respects Christians. But Catholics must be united with all other Chinese, and co-operate with the government. Religion must be practised according to the law,” he said.

It has not always been so for China’s faithful. Openly practising Catholics must do so in state-approved churches. Eighty-six-year-old He Defang has ploughed the hillsides of the Dengchi Valley all his life. His face is tanned and crinkled.

Mr He remembers a time when religion was not about politics – a time before 1949, when the communists came to power.

“The church was built by Father David, then came Father Lai, then after him father Liu, then Wang, Nian, Yao, Chen, Yuan and Father Yi. After him came the revolution,” he said.

With revolution came a new, atheist regime – one that frowned on all religious belief.

Through their supporters in the West, underground Catholics tell stories of constant harassment

And there was worse to come. In the 1960s, Chairman Mao launched his Great Proletarian – 10 years of chaos and violence led by teenage Red Guards. They sought to stamp out anything traditional or religious, and they targeted Christians.

He Defang remembers the day the Red Guards appeared in his valley.

“They came to the church and smashed everything up. Then they occupied the church, took the priest away, and sent him to a labour camp. During those days none of us could admit our religious beliefs. We had to pray in secret,” he said.

The hysteria eventually passed, and in the 1980s He Defang and his family were allowed to start practising again. Now Mr He’s children, grand-children and great-grand-children are all free to read their bibles, but that freedom has come at a price – Communist Party-control and isolation from Rome.

Not all of China’s Catholics are willing to accept the compromise.

The country is also home to several million underground Catholic believers, who are in contact with the Vatican, and who have their own, secretly-ordained bishops.

“With God’s help and blessing and the government’s help we believe that good relations can be established between China and the Vatican” Father Benedict Yang

It is a high risk decision. Through their supporters in the West, underground Catholics tell stories of constant harassment. In October the Church reported that police raided a retreat and arrested 12 priests and seminarians.

Last year the authorities allegedly bulldozed a church built by the underground movement.

Members of China’s secret Catholic Church who I contacted were too frightened to talk.

Father Benedict did not want to discuss the underground Church either, but he did tell me that he prays for the day when China’s Catholics are reunited – with each other, and with Rome.

“All Catholics in China are hoping for this, and with God’s help and blessing and the government’s help we believe that good relations can be established between China and the Vatican,” he said.

Until then China’s Catholics must spend another Christmas divided, and the faithful of Dengchi Valley must keep their belief alive, isolated from their brethren around the world (Williams, H. 2003, ‘China’s Catholics: Far from Rome’, BBC News, 24 December http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3343535.stm – Accessed 15 June 2009 – Attachment 5).

For information on Catholics more generally in China please see:

• United States Commission on International Freedom 2009, ‘China’, 2008 Annual Report, May, pp.74, 77-78 – Attachment 6;

• RRT Research & Information 2008, Research Response CHN33187, 8 April – Attachment 7;

• RRT Country Research 2007, Research Response CHN31675, 7 May – Attachment 8.

2. Please provide information concerning the current treatment of Catholics in Kunming City, Yunan Province.

Current information on the situation and treatment of Catholics in Kunming City of Yunnan province is scare. The Guide to the Catholic Church in China (2008 edition) provides the following entry for Kunming:

Sacred Heart Church Address: 418 Beijing Road Kunming, YUNNAN [650011] …Priest: Yue Tiande Sunday Mass: AM 8.30 Weekday Mass: AM 7.00 (Charbonnier, Fr. J. 2008, Guide to the Catholic Church in China, China Catholic Communication, Singapore, p. 290 – Attachment 1).

Controversy surrounded the appointment by the Chinese government, without Vatican approval, of Father Joseph Ma Yinglin as the new Bishop of Kunming in 2006. The Vatican’s formal response to the appointment was reported on by the Union of Catholic News website on 4 May 2006 and included the statement that “bishops and priests have been subjected – on the part of external entities to the Church – to strong pressures and to threats, so that they take part in the episcopal ordinations”:

The Holy See has issued a strong response to the recent illegitimate ordinations of two bishops in mainland China. Father Joseph Liu Xinhong, 41, was ordained on May 3 as Bishop of in eastern China, four days after Father Joseph Ma Yinglin, 41, was ordained on April 30 as Bishop of Kunming in southwestern China. Both were ordained without the approval of the Holy See.

Nine Vatican-approved bishops from the government-approved “open” Church took part in the Kunming ordination, while five Vatican-approved bishops were involved in the Anhui ordination. Two bishops attended both ordinations.

The Vatican statement, released on May 4, says the Holy Father received the news with “profound displeasure” because it gravely wounds Church unity.

The text, translated from Italian and issued by Joaquin Navarro-Valls, director of the Holy See Press Office, follows:

Episcopal Ordinations in Mainland China

I can inform you of the position of the Holy See regarding the episcopal ordination of the priests Joseph Ma Yinglin e Joseph Liu Xinhong, which took place, respectively, last Sunday, April 30, in Kunming (province of Yunnan) and Wednesday, May 3, in (province of Anhui).

The Holy Father has learned of the news with profound displeasure, since an act so relevant for the life of the Church, such as an episcopal ordination, has been carried out in both cases without respecting the requirements of communion with the Pope.

It is a grave wound to the unity of the Church, for which severe canonical sanctions, as it is known, are foreseen (cfr. canon 1382 from the Code of Canon Law).

According to the information received, bishops and priests have been subjected – on the part of external entities to the Church – to strong pressures and to threats, so that they take part in the episcopal ordinations which, being without pontifical mandate, are illegitimate and, besides, contrary to their conscience. Various prelates have given a refusal to similar pressures, while others were not able to do anything but submit with great interior suffering. Episodes of this kind produce lacerations not only in the Catholic community but also in the internal conscience itself.

We are therefore facing a grave violation of religious liberty, notwithstanding that it is sought to present the two episcopal ordinations as a proper act to provide the pastors of vacant dioceses.

The Holy See follows with attention the troubled path of the Catholic Church in China and although aware of some peculiarities of such a path, believed and hoped that similar, deplorable episodes would by now belong to the past.

Holy See considers it now her precise duty to give voice to the suffering of the entire Catholic Church, in particular to that of the Catholic community in China and especially to those bishops and priests who have been obligated, against conscience, to carry out or to participate in the episcopal ordination, which neither the candidates or the consecrating bishops want to carry out without having received the pontifical mandate.

If it is true the news according to which other episcopal ordinations are to take place in the same manner, the Holy See would like to repeat and stress the need for respect of the liberty of the Church and of the autonomy of her institutions from any external interference, and eagerly wishes that such unacceptable acts of violent and inadmissible constrictions are not repeated.

The Holy See has, on various occasions, stressed her willingness for honest and constructive dialogue with the competent Chinese authorities to find solutions that would satisfy the legitimate needs of both parties.

Initiatives such as the above mentioned do not favor such dialogue but instead create new obstacles against it (‘Holy See Responds to Recent Illegitimate Ordinations’ 2006, Union of Catholic News website, 4 May http://www.ucanews.com/2006/05/04/holy-see-responds-to- recent-illegitimate-ordinations/?key=kunming – Accessed 16 June 2009 – Attachment 9).

A 2004 Asia News report refers to “Father Chen Kaihua of Kunming” in its coverage of the ability of Chinese Christians to view the film “The Passion”:

Yunnan Catholic Online, a Kunming diocese-based website in the provincial capital of Yunnan (2,100 km southwest of Beijing) has reported that parishioners are viewing pirated copies of the film. Father Chen Kaihua of Kunming said that many Catholics are aware of the film’s worldwide distribution. Yet they wonder if it will ever be shown in China. With no friends in the United States or other countries who might buy legal copies of the film for them and rather than wait for months, some are buying and passing along pirated DVD versions, he explained. A local layman named Paul said that during two private viewings he attended, many Catholics cried, and a few even screamed when they saw Jesus being scourged (‘Pirated copies of “The Passion” used to evangelize’ 2004, Asia News, 31 March http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=558&size – Accessed 16 June 2009 – Attachment 10).

In 2007 a Reuters news article reported on a small, rural Catholic community in Yunnan province which remained loyal to the Vatican: MEILI MOUNTAIN – Deep in the southwest mountains of officially atheist China, a small congregation of Tibetan Catholics still pledges its loyalty to the Pope after years of persecution and isolation.

This community in the mountains of Yunnan province that buttress Tibet itself has remained a bastion of the faith since Swiss missionaries converted their ancestors a century ago. Their small church was levelled in the 1960s during the heyday of the Cultural Revolution and its priests chased away. Members of the congregation also recount how they and their families endured frequent raids by their Buddhist neighbours.

But despite decades of hardship, the Catholic faith still runs strong among the few hundred villagers.

“No matter what happens, I would never abandon my religion,” said 72-year-old Catholic Ma Dilin.

“There is no conflict between us and other religions. Our religion was passed on to me by the older generation, and will be passed on to the next generation. It is never going to change. I hope the younger generation can follow Catholicism as I do.”

Major religions suffered during the chaotic 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution when clergy and believers were persecuted, publicly mocked, jailed and even killed. China has since loosen restrictions on religions, but it remains tightly controlled.

SECRET DONATIONS

The officially atheist Communist Party, which has run China since 1949, say religious freedom is enshrined in the constitution and citizens are free to attend ceremonies in churches, mosques and temples under state control.

Nearly all Tibetans are, unlike the residents of this mountain-bound village, Buddhists who honour the Dalai Lama as the chief protector of their beliefs.

But international rights groups have accused China of jailing Catholic priests and Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns who reject official controls on their faith.

Every Sunday, the small, unassuming wood and brick church fills with the sounds of hymns and prayer. The white-washed interior is decorated with photographs of Pope Benedict, images of Jesus and the Virgin Mary as well as red, Chinese-style paper lanterns and calligraphy.

The biggest obstacle for the small congregation is the lack of funding. Infrequent, and often secret, donations from abroad keep the church’s door open and the local parish afloat.

The followers have remained loyal to the Vatican and the Pope, refusing to fall under the fold of the official Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.

“The Roman Catholic Church is home to our souls. It is our saviour and the leader of our souls. From dawn to dark, we, the Catholics must help the Roman Catholic Church, and help our God,” said local priest A Nisse.

Diplomatic relations between Beijing and the Vatican were severed in 1951, two years after the Communist Party took control of the country.

Official figures show the number of Christian Chinese has risen to 16 million from 10 million in the past six years but a recent survey by professors at a University put the figure at 40 million.

Growing numbers of Chinese join underground churches that do not fall under government supervision, but they sometimes risk detention or arrest.

Here in the mountains, Rome seems far away. But priest A Nisse said he felt a powerful bond.

“I want to thank the Roman Catholic Church. We have maintained our loyalty throughout the years. I thank them for helping us and supporting us,” he said (Elmecic, A. 2007, ‘Tibetan Catholics defy China government for faith’, Reuters, 3 April – Attachment 11).

A detailed analysis of the Protestant Church in Yunnan published in 2004 provides some general statements on the government’s attitude to religion in this part of China. Kathryn Rosenbaum, in her paper ‘In Search of the Truth: Modern Church-State Relations in Yunnan Province’, stated that “Comparatively, Yunnan is a very lax province when it comes to persecution of Christians, though Kunming is the most heavily watched place in the province in terms of watching for missionary or other deviant behaviour” (Rosenbaum, K. 2004, ‘In Search of the Truth: Modern Church-State Relations in Yunnan Province’, SIT Digital Collections website, April http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1519&context=isp_collection – Accessed 16 June 2009 – Attachment 12).

List of Sources Consulted

Internet Sources:

Catholic World News website http://www.catholicculture.org/ Union of Catholic News website http://www.ucanews.com/ BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/ Asia News http://www.asianews.it/

Databases:

FACTIVA (news database) BACIS (DIAC Country Information database) REFINFO (IRBDC (Canada) Country Information database) ISYS (RRT Research & Information database, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, US Department of State Reports) RRT Library Catalogue

List of Attachments

1. Charbonnier, Fr. J. 2008, Guide to the Catholic Church in China, China Catholic Communication, Singapore.

2. Lambert, T. 2006, China’s Christian Millions, Monarch Books, Oxford. Appendix 3.

3. DIAC Country Research Section 2008, China’s Protestants and Catholics, November. 4. ‘The government’s reported plan to appoint its own new bishops endangers hope for progress in relations between Beijing and Rome’ 2005, Catholic World News website, April http://www.catholicculture.org/news/features/index.cfm?recnum=37848 – Accessed 15 June 2009.

5. Williams, H. 2003, ‘China’s Catholics: Far from Rome’, BBC News, 24 December http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3343535.stm – Accessed 15 June 2009.

6. United States Commission on International Freedom 2009, ‘China’, 2008 Annual Report, May.

7. RRT Research & Information 2008, Research Response CHN33187, 8 April.

8. RRT Country Research 2007, Research Response CHN31675, 7 May.

9. ‘Holy See Responds to Recent Illegitimate Ordinations’ 2006, Union of Catholic News website, 4 May http://www.ucanews.com/2006/05/04/holy-see-responds-to- recent-illegitimate-ordinations/?key=kunming – Accessed 16 June 2009.

10. ‘Pirated copies of “The Passion” used to evangelize’ 2004, Asia News, 31 March http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=558&size – Accessed 16 June 2009.

11. Elmecic, A. 2007, ‘Tibetan Catholics defy China government for faith’, Reuters, 3 April.

12. Rosenbaum, K. 2004, ‘In Search of the Truth: Modern Church-State Relations in Yunnan Province’, SIT Digital Collections website, April http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1519&context=isp_collect ion – Accessed 16 June 2009.