国家宗教事务局 | |
Department overview | |
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Jurisdiction | China |
Status | External name of the United Front Work Department State Administration of the State Council (historical) |
Headquarters | Prince Chun Mansion, 44 Houhai Beiyan, Xicheng District, Beijing |
Department executive |
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Parent department | United Front Work Department |
Website | www |
State Administration for Religious Affairs | |||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 國家宗教事務局 | ||||||
Simplified Chinese | 国家宗教事务局 | ||||||
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The National Religious Affairs Administration (NRAA),formerly the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA),is an external name of the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Formerly,it was an executive agency directly under the State Council of the People's Republic of China which oversaw religious affairs in the country. SARA was merged into the UFWD in 2018. [1] [2] The names of the former agency were retained by the UFWD as external names under the system called "one institution with two names". [3]
Originally created in 1951 as the Religious Affairs Bureau,SARA was closely connected with the United Front Work Department (UFWD) and charged with overseeing the operations of China's five officially sanctioned religious organizations:
The State Administration for Religious Affairs was established to exercise control over religious appointments,the selection of clergy,and the interpretation of religious doctrine. SARA was also meant to ensure that the registered religious organizations support and carry out the policy priorities of the CCP. [4] For instance,SARA has maintained a "living Buddha database" to track prominent Tibetan Buddhists who are loyal to the CCP. [5] [6]
Ye Xiaowen directed the SARA from 1995 to 2009. During his tenure,he issued the State Religious Affairs Bureau Order No. 5,which furthered state control over reincarnations in Tibetan Buddhism,and attempted to suppress underground Catholics loyal to Rome (which he considered "colonial") and not to the government-sanctioned Catholic Patriotic Association. [7] After Ye was promoted to the Secretary of the CCP Committee at the Central Institute of Socialism,the former Deputy Director Wang Zuo'an was promoted to Director. [8] In 2018,that NRAA was merged into the UFWD. [1]
The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s united front system. Its members advise and put proposals for political and social issues to government bodies. However, the CPPCC is a body without real legislative power. While consultation does take place, it is supervised and directed by the CCP.
China News Service is the second largest state news agency in China, after Xinhua News Agency. China News Service was formerly run by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, which was absorbed into the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2018. Its operations have traditionally been directed at overseas Chinese worldwide and residents of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
The Catholic Patriotic Association, abbreviated CPA, is a state-managed nationalistic organization of Catholicism in the People's Republic of China. It was established in 1957 after a group of Chinese Catholics met in Beijing with officials from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Religious Affairs Bureau. It is the main organizational body of Catholics in China officially sanctioned by the Chinese government.
The Three-Self Patriotic Movement is the official government supervisory organ for Protestantism in the People's Republic of China. It is colloquially known as the Three-Self Church.
The United Front Work Department (UFWD) is a department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tasked with "united front work." It gathers intelligence on, manages relations with, and attempts to gain influence over elite individuals and organizations inside and outside mainland China, including in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and in other countries.
The Catholic Church in China has a long and complicated history. John of Montecorvino was the first Catholic missionary to reach China proper and first bishop of Khanbaliq during the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368).
The Buddhist Association of China (BCA) is the official government supervisory organ of Buddhism in the People's Republic of China. The association has been overseen by the United Front Work Department (UFWD) of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since the State Administration for Religious Affairs' absorption into the UFWD in 2018. The association's headquarters are located in Guangji Temple in Beijing.
Chinese Taoist Association, founded in April 1957, is the official government supervisory organ of Taoism in the People's Republic of China.
Freedom of religion in China may be referring to the following entities separated by the Taiwan Strait:
The Islamic Association of China is the official government supervisory organ for Islam in the People's Republic of China. The association is controlled by the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) following the State Administration for Religious Affairs' absorption into the United Front Work Department in 2018.
The united front is a political strategy of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) involving networks of groups and key individuals that are influenced or controlled by the CCP and used to advance its interests. It has historically been a popular front that has included eight legally-permitted political parties and people's organizations which have nominal representation in the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Under CCP general secretary Xi Jinping, the united front and its targets of influence have expanded in size and scope.
State Religious Affairs Bureau Order No. 5, officially named Measures on the Management of the Reincarnation of Living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism, is an order passed during a conference of the State Administration for Religious Affairs on 13 July 2007, marked for implementation on 1 September 2007.
The Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council (OCAO) is an external name of the United Front Work Department (UFWD) of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Prior to 2018, OCAO was an administrative office under the State Council of the People's Republic of China responsible for liaising with and influencing overseas Chinese as part of its united front efforts. Due to the 2018 party and government reform in China, OCAO was merged into the UFWD, with its functions being taken up by the department. Under the arrangement "one institution with two names", UFWD reserves the name "Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council", generally used when dealing in public statements and dealing with the outside world.
Human rights in Tibet are a contentious issue. Reported abuses of human rights in Tibet include restricted freedom of religion, belief, and association; arbitrary arrest; maltreatment in custody, including torture; and forced abortion and sterilization. The status of religion, mainly as it relates to figures who are both religious and political, such as the exile of the 14th Dalai Lama, is a regular object of criticism. Additionally, freedom of the press in China is absent, with Tibet's media tightly controlled by the Chinese leadership, making it difficult to accurately determine the scope of human rights abuses.
Ye Xiaowen is a Chinese politician who held various top posts relating to state regulation of religion in China from 1995 to 2009.
The present 14th Dalai Lama once suggested the different possibilities of reincarnation for the next (15th) Dalai Lama, but because of the feudal origin of the Dalai Lama reincarnation system, he suggested the reincarnation system should end. The selection process remains controversial, as the atheist Chinese government has declared ownership on the selection process using the Golden Urn for the next Dalai Lama. Article 1 of the 29-Article Ordinance for the More Effective Governing of Tibet states that the purpose of Golden Urn is to ensure prosperity of Gelug, and to eliminate cheating and corruption in the selection process. In 1792, the Qianlong Emperor published an article known as The Discourse of Lama, in which he explained why he thought it would be a fair system of choosing the reincarnated lamas with Golden Urn, as opposed to choosing reincarnated lamas based on private designation, or based on one person's decision. Also, he stated that Golden Urn was invented to eliminate greedy family with multiple reincarnated rinpoches, or lamas. On 26 January 1940, the Regent Reting Rinpoche requested the Central Government to exempt Lhamo Dhondup from lot-drawing process using Golden Urn to become the 14th Dalai Lama. The request was approved by the Central Government of Republic of China in 1940. In 2004, the Religious Affairs Regulations was published by the Central Government of China after the Method of Reincarnation of Lamas was abolished by Republic of China. Article 36 of the Religious Affairs Regulations states that the reincarnation system must follow religious rituals and historical customs, and be approved by the government.
The chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference is the leader of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China.
China has the world's largest irreligious population, and the Chinese government and the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are officially atheist and have conducted antireligious campaigns throughout their rule. Religious freedom is nominally protected under the Chinese constitution. Among the general Chinese population, there are a wide variety of religious practices. The Chinese government's attitude to religion is one of skepticism and non-promotion.
Antireligious campaigns in China are a series of policies and practices taken as part of the Chinese Communist Party's official promotion of state atheism, coupled with its persecution of people with spiritual or religious beliefs, in the People's Republic of China. Antireligious campaigns were launched in 1949, after the Chinese Communist Revolution, and they continue to be waged against Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, and members of other religious communities in the 21st century. State campaigns against religion have escalated since Xi Jinping became Chinese Communist Party general secretary in 2012. For Christians, government decrees have mandated the widespread removal of crosses from churches, and in some cases, they have also mandated the destruction of houses of worship. In Tibet, similar decrees have mandated the destruction of Tibetan Buddhist monastic centers, sacred sites, and monastic residences; the denial of the Tibetans' right to freely access their cultural heritage; and the ongoing persecution of high Buddhist lamas as well as Buddhist nuns and monks. The persecution initiated in 1999 by Jiang Zemin against Falun Gong continues unabated with widespread surveillance, arbitrary detention, imprisonment, and torture. In Xinjiang, the CCP has arbitrarily detained more than a million Muslims in internment camps. In addition, the CCP's policies have included forced labor, suppression of Uyghur religious practices, political indoctrination, forced sterilization, forced contraception, and forced abortion.
"One institution with two names" is a bureaucratic arrangement in the Chinese government wherein a government agency exists in name only, and its functions are in practice performed by another agency or a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organization, so that in effect one institution has two or more governmental brands or trade names to use selectively for political, historical, or bureaucratic reasons. This type of arrangement was historically common until the mid-1980s, but has been extensively revived by reforms which began in 2017.