ECLJ addresses United Nations event on religious freedom in China

GENEVA – September 18

The ECLJ was asked to speak on a panel that examined the lack of religious freedom in the People’s Republic of China at a side event at the UN Human Rights Council. According to one report, there are up to 130 million Christians in China today, which would rank the country as having the third largest Christian population in the world, behind the United States and Brazil. The event was moderated by Ms. Claude Levenson, a well-known journalist who has covered Tibet extensively and wrote a book on the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Buddhism. 

Grégor Puppinck, Counsel for the European Centre for Law and Justice, first introduced the work of the ECLJ, as this was the first UN event that the Centre has officially participated in since obtaining Special Consultative Status with ECOSOC in July.  Puppinck compared the religious freedom situation today in China to that of France during the French Revolution, and that of present-day Turkey.

In China, all religious groups, including the Christian churches, are mandated to register and are controlled by the state and political agents. In this way, the state alone selects the clergy or leaders of each religion. This has led to a tremendous growth in the underground churches and religious organizations. Of the estimated 130 million Christians in China, only about 20 million belong to the state Patriotic churches. Of this number, there are believed to be up to 20 million Catholics, with only 5.3 million belonging to the Catholic Patriotic Church.

Puppinck also spoke about the recent death while in custody of Giovanni Han Dingxiang, a Catholic Underground Bishop (appointed secretly by the Vatican), who spent most of the last 8 years in detention. There is great suspicion regarding the cause of death of this Bishop, because his body was cremated immediately after his death and no clergy were allowed to administer last rites or to attend the funeral service.

At the end of his presentation, Puppinck explained the basic principles of international law in relation to religious freedom. He emphasized that it is well established that a state can not interfere with the designation and election of religious leaders, as confirmed by a decision of the European Court of Human Rights.

The event was co-sponsored by Forum-Asia, Pax Romana, MRAP, Interfaith International, among others.