China Asks Faith Group for Help Following Earthquake - May 20, 2010

In a surprising move for the officially atheist nation, the government of China has posted a “help wanted” notice on its official website, aimed specifically at faith groups.

The 7.1 magnitude earthquake that ravaged the Tibetan area of Yushu in Qinghai Province on April 14 killed at least 2,200 people, injured more than 12,000 and has left 100,000 people homeless.  It is expected to take three years to complete the necessary rebuilding work.

The open letter to the religious community is posted by China’s Administration for Religious Affairs.  It asks for donations toward reconstruction and acknowledges with appreciation that the faith community has already donated more 86.9 million yuan, (C$13.2 million) for the quake-hit area.  The letter states that the religious affairs department hopes religious leaders and individual believers can continue to make contributions and thanks them for their prayers.

While most of the money for the reconstruction will come from the government, Vice Prime Minister Hui Liangyu acknowledged that some will come from private donations.  Since the earthquake, a number of Christian relief agencies have responded to the need in Qinghai Province.

Ongoing religious persecution continues to be an issue in China, although there does seem to be signs of acceptance by the Beijing government.  In 2007, prior to the Olympic Games, the director-general of the State Administration for Religious Affairs at the time, Ye Xiaowen acknowledged that the number of religious followers, including Christians, has grown. He stated at the time that the Chinese Communist Party will encourage religion to play a positive role in “promoting economic and social development” in the future.

There were many who felt these comments were only made because China wanted to be seen as improving human rights prior to the Olympics.  However, a recent article in the state run newspaper China Daily stated that the government is opening up to religion in the public square.  It goes on to tell of a 22 year old student in Beijing who converted to Christianity while trying to figure out the meaning of life.  The article says that the young man is now attending a 700 member house church.  House churches are illegal in China because they are not a part of the officially sanctioned Three-self Patriotic Movement and China Christian Council so it is surprising to find such an article in the state run press. 

In a related incident, the current director-general of the State Administration for Religious Affairs, Wang Zuo-an, recently met with Christian leaders in Hong Kong.  During their meeting, church pastors raised their concerns and questions about the religious policies and church needs on the mainland.  Wang acknowledged that in the past 30 years the country’s economy and religions have developed rapidly and that Christianity has had the most noticeable growth.

He stated that in the 1960’s it was estimated that there were 700,000 Christians in China.  The church has since seen a 20 fold increase, with an independent group reporting recently that there are now some 20 million Christians in the country.  He stated that “the society today looks upon Christianity with a different set of lenses. Not long ago, it is said that with one more Christian, then there is one less Chinese, but today this saying holds true, “With one more Christian, there is one more exemplary citizen.”

In spite of these seemingly positive signs, human rights groups report many ongoing examples of persecution of Christians in China.  These incidents often centre on house churches and the human rights groups say that China still has a long way to go in its respect of religious freedom.

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