Global Voices » Yantao BI

China: Expectations of Xinjiang people

Yantao BI — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:15:50 +0000

An article now popular in Chinese cyberspace depicts the sufferings and expectations of the people in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The post suggests that “all the friends across the country” owe an apology and a big “Thank you” to the Xinjiang people [zh].

China: Religious demography and house churches

Yantao BI — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 09:39:44 +0000

Last November (21-22, Nov 2008), the China State Council Development Research Center organized a seminar on “Christianity and Social Harmony — Special Session on House Church”. This is the first of its kind organized by a Chinese governmental sector. However, soon after the seminar, the Ministry of Civil Affairs issued a statement for banning activities organized by the China Federation of Christian House Churches.

Latest Crackdown

The statement said (via cool mountain house at douban):

经查，中国家庭教会联合会未经登记，擅自以社会团体名义进行活动，依据《社会团体登记管理条例》第三十五条的规定，决定取缔中国家庭教会联合会。

Upon investigation, the China Federation of Christian House Churches has not been registered but operated as an proper association. According to Article 35 of the Registration of Social Organizations Ordinance, all activities organized by the China Federation of Christian House Churches are to be banned.

The douban article (reposted from artblog) points out that:

据学者调查研究，未登记的民间组织，是已登记的数量的10倍。2008年中国的民间组织尤其是家庭教会，在5·12大地震中积极参与赈灾事工，为构建和谐社会、见证爱与公义做出了重要贡献。而民政部选择基督教家庭教会联合会为打击的目标，这首先显示出，民政部门可能继公安部门和宗教管理部门之后，成为打击家庭教会的第三个主力，因此基督徒必须对此有足够的警惕，共同为中国的爱与公义祷告，也为家庭教会在各种复杂的环境中站稳真理和生命的根基祷告；其次，这意味着整个民间社会十分之九的成长被置于非法的地位，这是改革开放三十年之际，严重违反执政党和国家执政方略的、作为和谐社会第一要义的民主法治的倒行逆施。

According to academic research, the number of unregistered NGOs is 10 times that of the registered ones. In 2008, NGOs in particular house churches have played a significant role in relief work after May 12 earthquake and contributed to the development of harmonious society. Now that the Ministry of Civil Affairs has pinpointed the China Federation of Christian House Churches as the target of crack down, it seems that the Ministry will become the third major force following the public security and religion department in repressing house churches. All Christians must be aware of such a trend and pray for Love and Justice in China, pray for the fundamental values of house churches in an difficult environment. It also implies that a large sector of the civil society has been defined illegal. It is a set back at the 30th anniversary of opening-up and reform, a severe violation of democracy and rule of law which is the essence of the ruling party and state policies and the harmonious society.

Below is a brief update of the religious demography in the past decade, which gives some background to the recent crackdown.

Religious demography

On October 16, 1997, China’s State Council Information Center released the “White Paper: Freedom of Religious Belief in China”, claiming:

据不完全统计，中国现有各种宗教信徒一亿多人，宗教活动场所8.5万余处，宗教教职人员约30万人，宗教团体3000多个。宗教团体还办有培养宗教教职人员的宗教院校74所。

According to incomplete statistics, there are over 100 million followers of various religious faiths, more than 85,000 sites for religious activities, some 300,000 clergy and over 3,000 religious organizations throughout China. In addition, there are 74 religious schools and colleges run by religious organizations for training clerical personnel.

Very interestingly, the White Paper on Progress in China’s Human Rights Cause in 2004 released on April 13, 2005 by China’s State Council Information Center says China’s religious demography remains 100 million, the clergy members remain 3000, 000, and the number of national and regional religious organizations also remains unchanged (more than 3,000), but the number of venues for religious activities rose to 100, 000.

According to China’s first major survey on religious beliefs conducted by professors Tong Shijun (童世骏) and Liu Zhongyu (刘仲宇) of Shanghai-based East China Normal University, 31.4 percent of Chinese aged 16 and above (or about 300 million) are religious. This figure is three times the official figure released in 2005.

It is noteworthy that 62 percent of the religious believers surveyed are in the 16-39 age groups, while only 9.6 percent are 55 years old or older.

According to this survey, Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Christianity and Islam are the top five religions, accounting for 67.4% of believers. About 200 million people are Buddists, Taoists or worshippers of legendary figures, accounting for 66.1 per cent of all believers. The survey finds 12% of all believers, or 40 million, are Christians.

USA’s “International Religious Freedom Report 2007: China” released on September 14, 2007 quoted China’s governmental figures as follows:

There are more than 100 million Buddhists;

There are more than 25,000 Taoist priests and nuns, more than 1,500 Taoist temples, and two Taoist schools;

There are as many as 20 million Muslims and 10 predominantly Muslim ethnic groups, the largest of which is the Hui, estimated to number nearly 10 million;

There are 5.3 million persons registered with China’s official Catholic Patriotic Association (CPA), and an equal or greater number who worship in unregistered Catholic churches affiliated with the Vatican;

Officials estimated that at least 20 million Christians worship in official churches;

According to NGO reports, Ye Xiaowen, Director of State Ethnic Affairs Commission, said to audiences at Beijing University and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences that the number of Christians had reached 130 million by the end of 2006, including about 20 million Catholics.

The latest report about China’s religious demography, appearing in a Canadian newspaper, suggests:

16 per cent of Chinese nationals adhere to state-sanctioned Buddhist institutions; almost 2 per cent go to approved Protestant Christian churches; another one per cent attend official Catholic churches; more than one per cent go to sanctioned Muslim mosques, and another one per cent are Taoist.

Family Church

The most controversial figure is how many people attend “family churches”, “house churches” or “underground churches” in China. Li Fan（李凡）exposed that

总的基督教如果按照家庭教会的统计所占人口数量在8000万到一个亿之间。……。在中国，80%的基督教成员是家庭教会成员。

figures released by house churches show there are 80 million to 100 million Christians in China. And 80% of them, i.e. 64 million to 80 million, are house church adherents.

It is said that the former US President George Bush once urged

布什总统曾说，“中国将近一个亿的家庭教会，应该公开自己的身份，应该浮出水面，应该改变地下的状态”。

it is the time for the 100 million house church followers to surface in China.

Although there is a new wave of crackdown after the November seminar on House church, it has also stimulated some discussion about the surfacing of church activities in China. An article written by Luke Lam has been reposted in many blogs (via yaoqiguang):

首先，我们应该提防的是世俗化的力量和现代思潮。曾有一个弟兄半开玩笑地跟我说，要拆毁一个教会，不是压迫它的发展，而是要给它钱，使它富有。…多年来，福音派着重个人的宗教经历，传福音，教会增长，而忽略神学思想的发展，护教与对文化的批判与重建，我们该如何回应这些思潮？…如何有效建设本土化神学，成为教会和基督教学术界值得深思慎重的地方。

First of all, we have to be aware of the secular force and contemporary thoughts. Once a brother jokingly said that, an effective way to ruin a church is not by oppression, but by donation to it, making it rich… For many years, the Evangelicals stress personal religious experiences, the reading of gospel and the growth of believers, while neglecting the development of theology and the critical aspects of Christianity. How are we to respond to such development?… How are we to reconstruct local theology? These are significant issues that the Church and Christian academics have to consider.

第二，教会制度和体制的完善是对教会公开化发展的要求。

Secondly, it is important to reform and perfect the Christian institution/Church in order to prepare for surfacing.

第三，教会要有承受复兴的预备。公开化给教会带来的正面影响无疑是信仰自由后教会的增长，但这上帝的赐福也要求我们能有承受的能力。

Thirdly, the Church has to prepare for its revival. We can anticipate the growth in the number of churches after the surfacing of house church activities, however we need to prepare ourselves for such blessing.

It seems that such a conclusion is too optimistic given the present political climate in China.

(This article is also contributed by Oiwan Lam).

China: CCTV under fire

Yantao BI — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 15:37:36 +0000

On the night of February 9, part of China Central Television (CCTV) Tower caught fire when a squad was shooting fireworks to celebrate the Lantern Festival. The fire has reportedly killed one fireman, injured seven other people, and destroyed billions of yuan in broadcast facilities.

Speculators have widely noticed the Chinese netizens’ online comments of the CCTV fire. But in fact, just as the authorities started to filter the relevant information in Chinese cyberspace, alternative communication means have been employed to air the grassroots views.

On February 10, I received a SMS message from one of my close friends, consisting of a traditional Chinese couplet available online at the moment:

上联：除夕夜捧红小沈阳
下联：元宵节火烧大裤衩
横批：央视不差钱

First line: The Spring Festival Gala made Xiao Shenyang a celebrity
Second line: The Lantern Festival fireworks set the boot-shaped building on fire
Horizontal line: CCTV never short of money

The message ends with such a conclusion:

做人不能太CCTV啦！否则，躲得过初一，也躲不过十五！

Never be too CCTV as a human being. Otherwise, you are doomed to be punished even if you are lucky enough to survive the Chinese New Year.

On February 12, I received an email from Mr. Yue (岳先生), aggregating a myriad of grassroots comments and snapshots on the fire. One of its captions reads:

央视真有钱啊，人家元宵节放焰火，丫元宵节烧大楼。

CCTV is so rich to set its building on fire to celebrate the Lantern Festival while others can only afford firecrackers.

Another netizen is quoted as commenting on CCTV’s misdoing:

主流媒体一直在教育我们诚实做人、遵纪守法，可你们却违规。我们的心情很凝重。

The Chinese mainstream media has always been instructing us to be honest and abide by laws, but now it is you that blatantly violated our law. We feel so gloomy now!

Out of my expectation, one commentator feels optimistic about the consequence of the fire:

一拆一建GDP又上去了，拉动了内需，又解决了大量农民工的临时饭碗问题。当事人立功受奖！

Deconstruction and reconstruction of the CCTV building will certainly stimulate our domestic demands and boost our GDP growth at the right time. Meanwhile, it creates temporary jobs for so many migrant workers. The suspects are entitled to a great reward.

One person is dissatisfied with CCTV’s professional performance:

CCTV 报道美国911大火是第一时间且连续滚动报道，而对自家的大火却只在十几小时后哼了一下。这是什么精神？这是无私忘我的精神！

CCTV’s reports of USA’s 911 fire were timely and continuous, but CCTV’s report about its own fire is so short and subtle. What spirit is this? It is the glorious spirit of “unselfish enough to forget itself”!

To draw a lesson from the fire, someone recommends politically:

“喉舌”上火，请用“民主牌”润喉片！

Please take Democracy-branded pills when the mouthpiece suffers from inflammation!

But I am afraid the Chinese people’s irony will be misintertpreted as gloat, merciless or inhuman. As a matter of fact, the aforementioned satire illustrated the grassroots concerns over the incident, their sympathy with the dead and injured, their anger with CCTV, and their love of the country.

China: update on Xintai mental asylum abuses

Yantao BI — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 08:01:21 +0000

Prof. Yu Jianrong（于建嵘）exposed [zh] that the governmental probe into the Xintai mental asylum abuses of the 18 protesters who were reportedly locked in a mental hospital in Xintai City, Shandong Province has already reached the conclusion that what the Beijing News reported [zh] is “not consistent with facts”. But Prof. Yu felt puzzled why the authorities have not published the investigative result.

China: netizens regret donations to Sichuan

Yantao BI — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 06:14:21 +0000

Beichuan County, the hardest hit area in 5.12 Sichuan earthquake, has spent RMB 1.1 million (USD160, 854) on one Land Cruiser, an imported luxury car, which has triggered explosive critique among the Chinese netizens. Blogger 心寒 (Chilling Heart) writes he could not help bursting into rage while many others, including 贫道中国人（Humble Chinese Taoist）, regretted their donations to Sichuan (zh), but Beichuan government has repeatedly defended its decision.

China: Sino-French Ties in 2009

Yantao BI — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 09:18:23 +0000

Mr. Song Luzheng (宋鲁郑）, a Chinese blogger who specializes in international politics, recently listed the five factors that have undermined the Sino-French relations (zh). He asserts that it is too hard to improve the bilateral relations to a mutually satisfying level unless the mutual trust is effectively enhanced.

China: victims of Sichuan earthquake

Yantao BI — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 02:18:35 +0000

The victims of the Sichuan 5.12 earthquake are suffering from the chilly winter. A local official says the lowest temperature in the earthquake zone can be 21.1 degrees below zero centigrade. Now how to help the victims pull through the bitter winter remains an urgent and tough task.

Last month, Mr. Zang Lu （臧璐）, a well-known environmentalist, and his colleagues took great pains to visit a leprosy village in Mao County, which is 40 kilometers away from seismic center. When asked what they need badly at the moment, the villagers simply replied: “Quilts!”

But when 15 university students of Yibin Vocational and Technical College in Sichuan province collected four large bags of clothes for the earthquake survivors, the local red cross office in Yibin refused to take them.

Just at the same time, some teachers in the mountainous areas in Sichuan province sent out messages that they badly need clothes, quilts, stationery, etc.

Then what is the true situation in the earthquake zone? Mr. Ji Shaokang, a Canadian professor, visited Sichuan last December. He describes what he witnesses in his blogosphere:

冬天来临，缺棉衣、缺棉被。山里的老乡一见到我们一行,就主动向我们反映情况, 说着说着泪水就在眼里转。

In the chilling winter, the villagers we met in the mountains don’t have enough clothes and quilts. On seeing us, they approached us to make complaints, with tears in eyes.

In cities and towns, there hang slogans along the roadsides, saying:

“有手有脚有条命，天大的灾难能战胜”；“不等不靠，自力更生重建家园”；“挖废墟刨旧梁，自己动手砌新房”

If we are still alive, still having hands and legs, we can survive any disaster.” “Build our own home by ourselves; don’t wait for help.” “Dig beams out of the ruins and build our new houses by ourselves.

One of Prof. Ji’s companions felt puzzled: Where is our donation?

On the other hand, more and more people outside the earthquake zone are trying to help the fellows in Sichuan.

A week before the New Year’s Day, Care for Life Campaign（关爱生命万里行）launched a second mission to Sichuan. The NGO enlisted 43 people (29 from Hong Kong) to visit Sichuan. With different kinds of gifts and their warm hearts, they celebrated the New Year’s Day with their old friends there. The website says:

我们知道一个团体能做的很有限，或许不能在根本上给灾区的数百万同胞带来真正的帮助，但我们做了总比不做好，今天做了总比明天做好。

We know as a new NGO, what we can do is so limited. We are unable to help millions of the victims there. But we believe it is better to offer a hand than to stand by, it is better to act today than tomorrow.

In November 2008, Green and Shine Foundation（桂馨基金会）published an open letter to help the rural teachers in the earthquake zone, which urged:

大家来自不同的地方，……，每个人的职业也不尽相同，……。但是，同一个心愿和发自内心爱的力量驱动，使大家有了同样的行动。

We all come from different places…, have different occupations… however, we share love and care and our heart that driven us to act.

As a result, people of all walks of life across China answered the call with great enthusiasm, sending gifts, clothes, books, stationery, etc. to the teachers there.

Ms. Wu Bei（吴蓓）, an educator and translator, together with her friend Ms. Liu Zhen（刘真）, wife of a grassroots thinker Yin Zhisheng who passed away in 1999, disseminated this information to their friends via SNS, receiving very positive responses.

Unfortunately, when trying to track the sources of information online, I found out they have already been deleted by website administrators, probably because these posts suggest that the government hasn’t taken effective measures to take care of the earthquake survivors.

China: A new black business flourishes

Yantao BI — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:59:32 +0000

In China, to publish an academic essay is extremely difficult for simply one reason: Too many people are compelled to publish essays in a miserably limited number of journals. Reluctantly, contributors have to pay certain sum of money to get their essays published. But demand still overwhelmingly exceeds supply. Therefore, a new type of brokers came into existence: they help polish, rewrite and publish essays for blind profits. Academics
debate heatedly [zh], but a high-rank official openly supports charging the contributors [zh].

China: Does the secret “Fifty Cents Party” exist?

Yantao BI — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:36:30 +0000

Wu Mao（五毛）is fifty cents or half yuan in Chinese currency. Wu Mao Dang (五毛党), or Fifty Cents Party, is a derogatory term applied to those pro-government bloggers who are suspected to receive fifty cents for every pro-party post. Does Wu Mao Dang really exist in China, as rumors say? A Chinese blogger took great pains to collect some evidence [zh], but dlliushaokui at sina.com expressed his doubt [zh]about its existence.

China: Different Interpretation of Taiwan Politics

Yantao BI — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 02:18:46 +0000

A well-known Chinese blogger WU Jiaxiang （吳稼祥）argues the “riot” that happened at Taipei Hotel November 6 is in fact part of the rampant “political kidnapping” in Taiwan [zh]. The blogger further analyses who are ultimately behind “the political violence” in Taiwan.