Recently, local authorities in many parts of China have been offering rewards for reporting religious activities on the grounds of preventing and controlling the “new crown” epidemic.
Recently, a photo of a document circulating on the Internet raised eyebrows.
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This document, issued on January 9 of this year by the United Front Work Department of the Xingtai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Hebei Province, bears the official seals of the United Front Work Department of the Xingtai Municipal Committee and the Xingtai Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs (the “Muzong Bureau”), and is entitled “Notice on the Reward for Reporting Religious Activities during the Epidemic”. The notice stated that due to the needs of local prevention and control of the epidemic, in accordance with the “notice requirements” of the “superiors” for the “double suspension” of religious activities and places of worship, and after consulting with “On the basis of the opinions and suggestions of religious groups and members of the religious community, it was decided to implement a “rewarding reporting system”. The notice encourages “all sectors of society” to report those who open religious sites and hold any form of religious activities during the epidemic; and points out that the focus of reporting is on “activities carried out in non-religious activity sites such as nunnery, meeting points and homes where people gather”. Once the report is “proven true,” the informant can receive a reward of more than 500 yuan. The notice also states the telephone number for reporting, and that the notice will be “implemented from the date of publication”.
Left: “Notice on the Reward for Reporting Religious Activities during the Epidemic” issued by Hebei Xingtai authorities on January 9, 2021. (From “Chinese Christian Justice Fellowship” Twitter); Right: “Notice on Rewards for Reporting Religious Activities during the Epidemic” issued by Xushui authorities in Hebei on January 11, 2021. (From the WeChat public number “Xushui Bar”)
Left: “Notice on Rewards for Reporting Religious Activities during the Epidemic” issued by Hebei Xingtai authorities on January 9, 2021. (From “Chinese Christian Justice Fellowship” Twitter); Right: “Notice on Rewards for Reporting Religious Activities during the Epidemic” issued by Xushui authorities in Hebei on January 11, 2021. (From the WeChat public number “Xushui Bar”)
On the same day, the Chaoyang Municipal Bureau of Religious Affairs in Liaoning Province also issued a document titled “Announcement on How to Report Illegal Religious Activities”. The announcement said that in order to “fully mobilize the masses to participate in preventing and combating illegal religious activities” and to stop the spread of the epidemic, it is hoped that “all sectors of society” will report “illegal religious activities, various kinds of gatherings carried out in the name of religion We hope that “all sectors of society” to “illegal religious activities, various types of gatherings carried out in the name of religion, the organization of minors to participate in religious training (activities), religious activities in accordance with the ‘double suspension’ epidemic prevention and control requirements and other illegal and illegal activities” to report. If the content of the report is “verified”, the informant can get a bounty of 200 yuan – 500 yuan. If the whistleblower provides “significant clues to illegal religious activities,” he or she will receive a larger reward. At the end of the announcement, the phone number and email address for reporting are listed. There is no specific definition of what constitutes “illegal religious activities.
On Jan. 11, the United Front Work Department of the CPC Lingshuan County Committee in Jincheng City, Shanxi Province, published an article on its official WeChat public number, in which Huo Peng, the county’s chief of united front work, made a request for the prevention and control of the “new crown” epidemic. According to the article, Huo said he “should conduct a dragnet survey of illegal religious gatherings in the county and keep close tabs on the trends” and “resolutely ban illegal gathering places. At the end of the article, an “email address for reporting violations in the religious field during the epidemic” was published.
It is worth noting that on January 11, the Xushui District United Front Work Department of Baoding City, Hebei Province, and the Xushui District Bureau of Civil and Religious Affairs issued a document with the same title as the January 9 notice on “Reporting Rewards” issued by the Xingtai United Front Work Department and Bureau of Civil and Religious Affairs, with only a few words and a different reporting phone number, and also setting the reward for reporting at 500 yuan or more.
On January 15, the Christian Grace Fellowship of Qingdao, Shandong Province, published an article on its WeChat public number stating that, in the midst of the “new crown” epidemic, the fellowship had “been able to provide a lot of support” for the “new crown” epidemic. The fellowship “has heard that churches in other areas of the country have been notified to suspend all meetings” in the wake of the “new crown” epidemic. The notices also stated that if “illegal meetings are not stopped, especially in rural areas,” they would be “severely cracked down on. All of this suggests that the rewards for reporting religious activities throughout China may be the result of higher-level authorization from the Chinese authorities, with a focus on underground religious activities in various locations. As an aside, Xingtai authorities set up a so-called “illegal religious activities reporting hotline” in July 2019, based on the Chinese State Council’s “Regulations on Religious Affairs and other relevant documents.
In a January 15 interview, Mr. Kang, a Hebei Catholic, said that Chinese authorities are using the “new crown” epidemic to persecute the local Catholic underground church. He said that some members of the underground church in his hometown are already panicking because of the government’s “exclusion”. I think this is just the beginning,” he added. In the future, the struggle between the Communist government, the religious authorities and the underground churches will continue and possibly intensify. We hope that all will go well for the Catholics in the Hebei area who are always holding on to their faith.”
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