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China tightens grip on religion in bureaucratic overhaul

Powerful party unit takes control of state-run Catholic Church from the State Administration for Religious Affairs
China tightens grip on religion in bureaucratic overhaul

Delegates gather in the Great Hall of the People before the sixth plenary session of the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing on March 18. The Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee, on March 22, released "Plan on Deepening Reform of Party and State Institutions" and announced that the United Front Work Department will manage religious affairs. (Photo by Greg Baker/AFP)

Published: March 23, 2018 10:10 AM GMT

China's ruling Communist Party has further stepped up control over all religions, dissolving its longstanding State Administration for Religious Affairs bureau and handing its functions to the party's feared United Front Work Department (UFWD).

The move was announced on the closing day of the annual "two meetings" in Beijing and comes as part of a comprehensive bureaucratic overhaul of the entire Chinese bureaucracy and only seven weeks after stricter new rules on religion were introduced on Feb. 1.

The official line from the state-run Xinhua News Agency ran like this:

"The CPC [Communist Party of China] exercises overall leadership over all areas of endeavor in the country, and the reform is meant to strengthen the Party's leadership in all areas and improve the structure of the Party organization, according to the plan.

"The plan says that some state institutions previously under the leadership of the State Council have been dissolved or integrated into a new agency under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee, such as the State Administration for Religious Affairs, Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council, and Ministry of Supervision and National Bureau of Corruption Prevention."

According to Feng Yue, a political science expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: "The core of this reform is to reinforce and strengthen the Party leadership, and adjust the political system of the Party-State management in China."

While the UFWD — once described by Chinese leader Xi Jinping as a "magic weapon" — previously had policy control over religion it now has day to day oversight and direct control over the state-run organizations of all five official religions including the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and the Chinese Bishop's Conference.

It exercises control over religious appointments, the selection of clergy and the interpretation of religious doctrine.

The move comes at an interesting time for the Catholic Church, which is deep in talks with Beijing about normalizing the appointment of bishops to bring together the two China Church communities — the so-called underground and the state-run Chinese Patriotic Association.

Rumors have been swirling that a deal could be announced to coincide with Holy Week, commencing with Palm Sunday on March 25, but it is unclear if Vatican diplomats were made aware of China's wholesale changes to religion management ahead of the announcement.

Or Yan Yan, a project officer at Hong Kong Diocese's Justice and Peace Commission, described the move as "a major step backwards in religious work".

"On the mainland it used to be the 'government managing religions,' but now they are not afraid of going backwards and directly showing the outside world its 'the Party managing religion'," she told ucanews .com.

It reflects the fact the Party will not loosen its control over religion and ideology at all, she added.

In addition, the Party's Central Propaganda Department has taken over the work involving ideology including management of the press and publications and the review of feature and documentary films.

Sang Pu, a critic of the Party from Hong Kong, noted that the unified management of religious work by the UFWD emphasizes the Party's absolute power, which is contrary to the direction China has pursued in recent decades. 

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