Page 4 of 4 CHINA'S MASSIVE WRENCH, Part 1 Change in the face of foreign devils By Francesco Sisci
possible for millions of people to believe absurd theories about
extraterrestrials or to refuse modern medical treatment.
Yet, it also revealed that Chinese people wanted religious values, and the
government had to be open to them. Buddhism was favored: it was a religion that
had been in China for hundreds of years, Chinese people were very familiar with
it, and Buddhist monks had been among the first to denounce the dangers of the
Falungong in 1998.
Furthermore, the Chinese leaders realized that the much-feared Christian faiths
were not so dangerous after all. In 50 years of communist rule, despite
ruthless oppression, Christian
Protestants and Catholics had never staged demonstrations in Tiananmen, as
Falungong followers had. In 1989, during the Tiananmen demonstrations,
then-bishop Zen from Hong Kong told students in Chinese seminars not to get
involved with the demonstrations.
This created renewed goodwill among the Chinese leadership for traditional
religions and made possible official overtures to the Vatican in 2001 for the
normalization of ties with China. In 2001, senior party official Pan Yue wrote
an article [1] that redefined theoretical concepts. He argued, essentially,
that Karl Marx had said that religion is the opiate of the people, and thus
religion is bad for revolution. But once revolution is successful, the
government needs religion as an opiate to avert new revolutions. The reasoning
is crude but fitting for Chinese political thought. It also changed the meaning
of revolution from the original Marxist one, entailing a total change of
political order, to the Chinese geming, a simple traditional Chinese
change of political power. This brought the momentous change of 2007.
On December 18, the party's politburo, the highest ruling body in the country,
held a plenary collective study session. It was the second one since the 17th
Communist Party Congress that ended in October last year. For the first time in
the history of the People's Republic, the party's top echelons met to discuss a
once-taboo subject - religion.
The Chinese Communist Party, like many other communist parties, is patently
atheist, to the point that religious affiliation is forbidden for party
members. However, right in Congress there was the first sign that things could
be moving in a different direction.
Broadcasting from the cavernous Great Hall of the People in Beijing, where the
17th Party Congress was in session, TV screens showed the slim and attentive
face of the young Panchen Lama (the second-highest ranking Lama after the Dalai
Lama), who was following the speech of party general secretary Hu Jintao. The
badge on his chest said "guest".
Although there is dispute over the present (11th) incarnation of the Panchen
Lama, with Beijing and the Tibetan government in exile favoring different
people, the presence of the important religious dignitary from Tibet,
supportive of the Beijing government, indicated that the party was
reconsidering its stance on religion. Now religious personalities were invited
guests; perhaps, in the not too distant future, they could become fully fledged
delegates to the party congress. That is, the party could drop its ban against
religious figures joining its ranks.
Indeed, Hu's keynote speech devoted a paragraph to religion [2]. He said
religious people, including priests, monks and lay-believers, played a positive
role in the social and economic development of China. Furthermore, Hu did not
talk about religions as such, thus establishing a form of respect and
non-interference in purely religious affairs. That is, the party is not
interested in religion per se, but it values the positive social contribution
of religious people.
At the study session on December 18, the politburo explored the issue. Two
experts introduced the subject. One was Zuo Xinping, a specialist on
Christianity from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the other was Mou
Zhongjian, a scholar on Confucianism from the Central University of
Nationalities in Beijing. It seemed the party wanted two perspectives, one
about new Christian faiths coming from abroad and one from the country's own
native traditions.
Hu presented some introductory remarks, reported in a Xinhua article in Chinese
[3], and it was indeed an historic event. Two facts are extraordinary.
It was the first high-level meeting of the party fully devoted to religion.
That was a sign that party leaders recognized the great political significance
of religion in building a "moderate, affluent and harmonious society". Religion
is no longer an issue of public security that can be handed over to the police
- it is a top social and political issue involving all aspects of society, and
therefore all politburo members must be aware of it.
Secondly, in all of the Xinhua reports, there were no negative, derogatory
remarks about religion, as one would expect to find about the "opiate of the
masses". There were not even "ifs" or "buts" to indicate that the party would
handle religion with diffidence. The English version stresses that there must
be freedom of belief, and in the Chinese version, Hu is quoted as saying that
the party must mobilize the positive elements of religion for economic and
social development. Thus, religion can play an important role in realizing the
"harmonious society" that is the new political goal of the party.
Furthermore, Hu spoke at the session, meaning that he and the party deemed this
issue of top importance and not simply something to be delegated to the United
Front Department or the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the
two bodies that deal with religious affairs for the party. His speech, which
can be expected to circulate in internal meetings, will set the direction for
handling religious affairs.
This does not mean the party has converted to some religious belief or is going
to do so. Religion is an instrument for governance. As Pan Yue bluntly put it
in his essay, the party wanted to learn how it could use religion to appease
people, to enhance social stability, and to avert rebellions and revolutions.
The party understands this is a complex issue, but one with many potential
positive social outcomes. In the late 1990s, an investigation carried out in
some costal regions found that the areas with more people converted to a
religious faith had a lower rate of criminality - more religion meant less
crime.
However, Chinese history tells party leaders that religion is also an extremely
volatile element. Major uprisings in the past were organized by religious
groups. For instance, the Taiping, who almost brought to an end the Qing
Dynasty in the 19th century, were pseudo-Christians. Similarly, extreme radical
Islam now mobilizes millions worldwide. Religion has to be handled with care,
but it cannot simply be ignored or looked down on like some kind of feudal
leftover.
Notes
1. Pan Yue: "Marxist view on religion must keep in step with times", Huaxia
Shibao, December 15, 2001. 2. Here is the entire passage, according to the
official English translation: "4. Expand the patriotic united front and unite
with all forces that can be united. Promoting harmony in
relations between political parties, between ethnic groups, between religions,
between social strata, and between our compatriots at home and overseas plays
an irreplaceable role in enhancing unity and pooling strengths. Acting on the
principle of long-term coexistence, mutual oversight, sincere treatment of each
other and the sharing of wealth and woe, we will strengthen our cooperation
with the democratic parties, support them and personages without party
affiliation in better performing their functions of participation in the
deliberation and administration of state affairs and democratic oversight, and
select and recommend a greater number of outstanding non-CPC [Communist Party
of China] persons for leading positions. Keeping in mind the objective of all
ethnic groups working together for common prosperity and development, we must
guarantee the legitimate rights and interests of ethnic minorities, and
strengthen and develop socialist ethnic relations based on equality,
solidarity, mutual assistance and harmony. We will fully implement the party's
basic principle for its work related to religious affairs and bring into play
the positive role of religious personages and believers in promoting economic
and social development. We encourage members of emerging social strata to take
an active part in building socialism with Chinese characteristics. We support
overseas Chinese nationals, returned overseas Chinese and their relatives in
caring about and participating in the modernization drive and the great cause
of peaceful reunification of the motherland."
3. There are some differences between Xinhua's reports in English and in
Chinese about Hu's speech at the politburo study session on December 18, 2007.
For the English version, click
here. For the Chinese version, click
here.
NEXT: Going global
Francesco Sisci, Asia Editor of La Stampa.
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