People part of ‘unorganized religion’ can come under attack in China

In China, religion might not be talked about much but holds a great significance. The country prides itself on having organized religion formation and somehow rejects the idea of unrecognized or unpopular religion. 

The communist government recognizes merely five religions which are-- Chinese Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism. But this is propagated by the Chinese government as an achievement because the rule recognizes itself as an atheist government. 

The problem is that any practice apart from these groups which are supervised by the recognized groups the Protestant Three-Self Patriotic Movement or the Buddhist Association of China receives a very critical treatment by the communist government. 

Any organizations or religious institutions that are run other than these groups are cracked down to the core and receive a tough call on its existence. These practices by the authority are receiving critical treatment. Foreigners however receive some amount of freedom in accepting whatever religion they practice. 

It is now that even a larger problem arises. The Chinese officials are trying to control the religious practices that are practiced even by foreigners. In a draft that is yet to be released in the public domain, the Chinese authorities have specified the practices that foreigners can and cannot do in the country. 

This includes "interfering with or dominating the affairs of Chinese religious groups," advocating "extremist religious thoughts," using religion to conduct terrorist activities, or "interfering with the appointment or management of Chinese clergy members," quotes CNN. 

The most complicated section comes directly from Vatican city. China does not fully recognize the power and presence of the Pope and that has bothered many. However, religious institutions listen to the call of the Pope. China insists on having the ultimate power in selecting a bishop's appointment in mainland China but here the Pope seems to have a say. 

In a recently published book by the Pope, some controversial statements were made on Chinese practices. He referred to Uyghurs as "persecuted people" for the first time. This did not go well with Beijing. Because of this reason, the country is thinking of going back on the deal it extended this year in October. 

A secretive deal between the Vatican and China has been signed details about which are not completely known. The two-year arrangement was extended this year. Not making the details public received criticism from the Catholic world and the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. 

Following the comments by the Pope, the Foreign Ministry of China released a statement saying, “ What Pope Francis said about the Uyghurs is totally groundless.” He added, “There are 56 ethnic groups in China, and the Uyghur ethnic group is an equal member of the big family of the Chinese nation."