SCIO briefing on China's protection of the freedom of religious belief

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Speakers:
Chen Zongrong, former vice administrator of State Administration for Religious Affairs


Xiao Hong, former spokeswoman of State Administration for Religious Affairs

Chairperson:
Xi Yanchun, spokeswoman of the State Council Information Office

Date:
April 3, 2018

Hong Kong Wen Wei Po:

The behavior of some Buddhists who obtain wealth by unfair means has generated negative influence. I'm wondering what measures you have taken to address the situation of the commercialization of Buddhism and Taoism. Thank you.

Chen Zongrong:

The commercialization of Buddhism and Taoism is an issue which attracts wide attention. The increasing commercialization is reflected in the following four aspects:

First, accumulating money by investing in construction of large-scale open air religious statues and temples. Second, contracting Buddhist and Taoist temples to the capital market and even planning to list them in the stock market. Third, conducting religious services in places other than Buddhist or Taoist temples in order to make money by collecting admission tickets and alms, establishing boxes of merits, and conducting unregulated activities like burning incense and freeing captive animals. Fourth, some Buddhist monks and Taoist priests have a loose sense in discipline and chase after fame and wealth under the influence of commercialization. They try to gain money through any possible means.

Criticized by the whole of society, these commercialized activities also hurt the development of religions. First, they damage the legitimate interests of Buddhism and Taoism by drawing in believers who offer alms to false monks and priests or those who make money from the temples. Second, they taint the image of the religions, because seeking fame and fortune goes against religious ethics. Third, they hinder the sound development of the religions. If such activities continue, the religions will lose believers and eventually imperil their existence and development. Therefore, to answer the calls of the religious circles as well as the whole of society, the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Chinese government have attached great importance to tackling the commercialization of Buddhism and Taoism. 

We have taken the following measures. First, the State Administration of Religious Affairs has released several documents jointly with other central departments, specifying the limits of commercialization and defining wrongdoings. Second, we have stepped up supervision. We have supervised the investigation of major cases and exposed them to the public. Also, we have cooperated with related departments to carry out inspections and ordered the violators to rectify offenses. Third, we have carried out dedicated initiatives to deal with illegal activities. For example, we have intensified efforts to tackle illegal Buddhist statues. As we know, there are many substandard Buddhist statues built without approval. They are not in accordance with religious rites and only built to make money. We have dealt with the issue of illegal merit boxes established in non-religious places. Fourth, we have published the information of Buddhist and Taoist temples on the internet. Meanwhile, registered temples will put up a sign, enabling the public to differentiate them from fake ones. We have guided believers and followers to conduct religious practices in a proper way and develop a healthy atmosphere for practicing. All those efforts have to some extent curbed the commercialization trend. However, there is still a long way to go to entirely curtail such activities, but hopefully with the cooperation of society as a whole, and media as well, we can get this work done. Thank you.

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