Religion | Wandering China

April 22, 2013 • 10:40 am 0

Challenge China to Free Tibetans [Wall Street Journal] #RisingChina #Tibet

Truth or dare? For more on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, go here.

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Challenge China to Free Tibet
Xi Jinping needs to hear that religious freedom is the only way to stop self-immolations.
By Elliott Abrams and Azizah Al-Hibri
Source – Wall Street Journal, published April 21, 2013

When Kal Kyi, a 30-year-old mother of four, set herself on fire in March to protest Chinese repression of Tibet, she joined a grim and growing fellowship of despair. Over the past four years, 112 Tibetans have immolated themselves in protest against Chinese oppression.

Tibet is burning, and the world community, including the U.S., must speak out. China’s new president, Xi Jinping, and the rest of its leadership must be persuaded that its interests lie with respecting human rights, particularly freedom of religion, and to restart discussions with Tibet’s exiled leader, the Dalai Lama.

Unfortunately, persuading Beijing is no simple task. China’s rulers have dug in their heels on Tibet as self-immolations continue to mount. They have expanded repressive measures while accusing foreign forces of fueling Tibetan grievances.

Please click here to read the rest of the article at its source.

Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Beijing Consensus, Censorship, Chinese Model, Communications, Culture, Democracy, Domestic Growth, Education, Government & Policy, Human Rights, Influence, International Relations, Mapping Feelings, Modernisation, New Leadership, Peaceful Development, Peacekeeping, Politics, Population, Public Diplomacy, Random, Religion, Social, Soft Power, Tao Guang Yang Hui (韬光养晦), Territorial Disputes, Tibet, Wall Street Journal, Xi Jinping, #RisingChina, Immolations, Tibet

November 1, 2012 • 2:38 am 1

CCP moves away from Maoism [Straits Times]

Straits Times: No more Mao Zedong thought as guiding ideological principle?

The Bo crisis shows this way of “saying Mao” while “doing Deng” is potentially unstable… Finally, by deleting Maoism, it might usher in a Xi-era of political reform, now that the biggest ideological obstacle is removed. Cheong Ching, Straits Times, 2012

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CCP moves away from Maoism
Revised Chinese Communist Party charter will usher in political reforms
By Ching Cheong Senior Writer
Source – Straits Times, published November 1, 2012

HONG KONG – The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) convenes it seventh plenum today with a bold move to take Maoism out of the party’s Constitution.

The meeting’s main agenda is to iron out the details of the leadership changes which had in the past year been the focus of international attention.

An equally important task is to revise the party’s charter: One possible change is that communist China’s founding father Mao Zedong’s thought may no longer be a guiding principle of the party. This would be an extremely important change for China. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Beijing Consensus, Charm Offensive, Chinese Model, Communications, Culture, Domestic Growth, Government & Policy, Influence, Media, Modernisation, New Leadership, Politics, Public Diplomacy, Religion, Social, Straits Times, Strategy, The Chinese Identity, Xi Jinping, China's Rise, culture, Democracy, Identity, International Relations, Media, Politics, Propaganda, Public Diplomacy, Social, Strategy

October 9, 2012 • 11:57 pm 0

Confucius in church [Global Times]

On the Global Times front page: Cross-pollinating two cultures by bridging church and Confucianism.

Not everyone’s in favour and the lessons have a class currently 14 strong. The Christian population is certainly growing in China, and I see it here in Melbourne as well – I see Chinese students convert to Christianity on a weekly basis. China Daily reported in 2010 the findings of a survey by the Institute of World Religions at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. It revealed 23.05 million followers then, where

“Nearly 69 percent of believers said they converted to Christianity after either they or members of their family fell ill…About 15 percent of believers said they are Christian because of the influence of family traditions.” Li Lin, in the Blue Book on China Religions, a book that lists facts on religion in China.

The last official census saw 4 million Catholics and 10 million Protestants expressing their faith outright.

What does one make out of this – nip in the bud, social engineering, or genuine story of hybridization?

“Many Christians are ignorant of traditional culture, and some are even against learning it because they believe the Bible is the only book they need and that Confucianism and other schools of thought might interfere with their beliefs,” Shi Hengtan, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who leads the class of 14 people in Beijing.

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Confucius in church
by Xuyang Jingjing
Source – Global Times, published October 9, 2012

A Christian church situated in Jiangbeizui, Chongqing Photo: CFP

It’s a Sunday afternoon, and a group of Christians are meeting in a regular gathering. They start to sing hymns, raising their hands in praise. After concluding grace with “Amen,” they sit down and start to study, not the Bible, but the Confucian classic Lun Yu, or the Analects.This is part of a quiet grass-roots campaign among a small number of Chinese Christians to learn about traditional Chinese culture. Organizers say they simply want to help promote dialogue and better understanding between the two cultures by reading the Analects and the Bible side by side, but their efforts have met with criticism from both Christians and Confucian scholars.Shi Hengtan, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, leads the class of 14 people in Beijing. Since September they have been meeting once a week to study the Analects. The class read the text, and Shi offers an explanation, and then quotes a verse from the Bible with a similar meaning. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Beijing Consensus, Charm Offensive, Chinese Model, Communications, Culture, Democracy, Domestic Growth, global times, Government & Policy, Human Rights, Mapping Feelings, Media, Modernisation, Peaceful Development, People, Population, Religion, Social, The Chinese Identity, The construction of Chinese and Non-Chinese identities, China's Rise, culture, Democracy, Education, Public Diplomacy, Religion, Social

April 24, 2011 • 1:36 am 0

China detains Protestant Shouwang Devotees [BBC]

The BBC reports the latest as more Shouwang Devotees get detained as they gathered for Easter Service.

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China detains Protestant Shouwang Devotees
Source – BBC, published April 24, 2011

At least 20 Chinese Protestants have been detained as they tried to gather for an Easter service in Beijing.

The worshippers, from the Shouwang church, were trying to hold an outdoor service because they are prevented from using their own premises.

Police have recently arrested dozens of people from the church. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Beijing Consensus, Charm Offensive, Chinese Model, Culture, Democracy, Education, Environment, Human Rights, Influence, People, Politics, Population, Public Diplomacy, Reform, Religion, Social, The Chinese Identity, The construction of Chinese and Non-Chinese identities

April 13, 2011 • 8:06 am 1

China Keeps Church Leaders from Public Worship Attempt [Compass Direct News]

Some argue that Christianity will help bridge the great divide between East and West. Judging from the report, there certainly is resistance. Shouwang Church, 1000 members strong denies its outdoor service is a form of political protest. On the other hand, the Chinese are holding back about ‘two dozen’ pastors and elders from attending the outdoor Sunday service. Without the primacy of first-hand knowledge, this all remains speculation on my part; but one thing’s for sure: Jesus has arrived in China -

Shouwang is ‘…one of the largest house churches in Beijing, Shouwang is unique in insisting on meeting together rather than splitting the congregation into smaller groups meeting in several locations…

“This is based on the founding fathers’ vision for Shouwang Church to be a ‘city on a hill,’” as stated in the Bible in Matthew chapter five, Fu explained. “So they’ve made a conscious decision not to go back to the small-group model. Either the government gives them the keys to their building or gives them written permission to worship in another location, or they will continue meeting in the open.”

For some insight into the Church inner workings – A Letter to the Congregation: Beijing Shouwang Church (China Source, November 12, 2009). For more on the source that the pastors and elders have held – go to the China Aid Association (coincidentally, its motto – expose, encourage, equip).

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China Keeps Church Leaders from Public Worship Attempt
Police put pastors under house arrest over weekend, before detaining at least 160 on Sunday.
Source – Compass Direct News, published April 11, 2011

DUBLIN, April 11 (CDN) — Police in China held “about two dozen” pastors and elders of Beijing’s Shouwang Church under house arrest or at police stations over the weekend to keep them from attending a Sunday worship service in a public location, according to Bob Fu of the China Aid Association.

Three top leaders of the church remain in jail and several others are under strict surveillance after hundreds of Chinese police yesterday cordoned off the walkway to a third-floor outdoor meeting area adjacent to a property purchased by the church in Haidian district, Beijing, and arrested at least 160 members of the 1,000-strong church as they tried to assemble.

The church members were bundled into waiting vans and buses to prevent them from meeting as planned in the public space, Reuters and The Associated Press (AP) reported, and most had been released by today. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Beijing Consensus, Charm Offensive, Chinese Model, Compass Direct News, Culture, Democracy, Education, Environment, Human Rights, Influence, People, Politics, Population, Public Diplomacy, Reform, Religion, Social, The Chinese Identity, The construction of Chinese and Non-Chinese identities

December 26, 2010 • 2:48 am 0

Pope urges end to conflicts in Christmas message [BBC]

Relations between the Vatican and China – they broke formal diplomatic ties half a century ago – have recently reached their lowest point in years.

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Pope urges end to conflicts in Christmas message
Analysis by David Willey – BBC News, Rome
Source - BBC, published December 25, 2010

Pope Benedict said the Christmas message of peace and hope was always new, surprising and daring. It should spur everyone towards a peaceful struggle for justice.

He dived straight into a list of the world’s main trouble spots, singling out the plight of persecuted Christians in the Middle East and China. In the Middle East, the Vatican fears further attacks like the one on a Catholic cathedral in Baghdad in October that killed 52 people.

In China, Communist authorities have been forcing Catholic Bishops to attend events organised by the state-backed “patriotic church” which does not recognise the Pope’s authority. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: BBC, Culture, Domestic Growth, People, Population, Religion, Social, The construction of Chinese and Non-Chinese identities, The Economist

December 17, 2010 • 10:32 pm 0

Vatican in new clash with China over church [Bloomberg/AP]

Vatican in new clash with China over church
By VICTOR L. SIMPSON
The Associated Press
Source – Bloomberg, published December 18, 2010

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican accused China on Friday of spurning efforts for improved ties with the Holy See, condemning the government-backed church as violating religious freedom and human rights.

Pope Benedict XVI’s outreach to China has been answered by “unacceptable and hostile acts,” the Vatican said in an unusually strong statement that accused Beijing of unilaterally damaging “the climate of trust that had been established.”

The Vatican statement had been expected following last week’s election of senior members of China’s government-backed church that included a prelate unrecognized by the Vatican to head its bishop’s council. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: AP, Beijing Consensus, Bloomberg, China Trip 2010, Influence, International Relations, People, Population, Reform, Religion, Social

November 21, 2010 • 6:05 am 0

China ordains bishop despite Vatican objection [BBC]

‘China and the Vatican have had no diplomatic ties since the 1950s, when Beijing expelled foreign clergy.‘

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China ordains bishop despite Vatican objection
Source – BBC, published November 20, 2010

China’s state-backed Catholic church has challenged the Vatican by ordaining a bishop without papal approval – the first such ceremony since 2006.

Guo Jincao’s ordination was carried out in the north-eastern city of Chengde amid a strong security presence.

Eight Vatican-approved bishops are believed to have been forced to attend the ceremony. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Beijing Consensus, Chinese Model, Domestic Growth, Education, Environment, Lifestyle, People, Population, Religion, Social, The Chinese Identity, The construction of Chinese and Non-Chinese identities

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