Chinese official rebuffs Purdue religious consensus

China does not need to feel vexed by any "one-sided evaluations" of its religious affairs and the nation has stood firmly to protect religious freedom, said a former official on Thursday in response to a religious freedom consensus released Wednesday.

"China always upholds protection of religious freedom. There is a set of clear and specific laws and regulations on religious affairs in China and we have handled all issues strictly in line with the law," said Ye Xiaowen, former director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs.

Ye is currently the Party secretary of the Central Institute of Socialism in Beijing.

His response came after the Wednesday release of the "Purdue Consensus on Religious Freedom," which criticized China for "misunderstanding, violation, discrimination and persecution" of religious freedom in the legal and social practices of the nation.

The consensus, released after a three-day symposium at Purdue University in Indiana, claimed that China's laws lack "a clear definition of and sufficient protection" for religious freedom. The document was signed by more than 50 signatories, including scholars, lawyers and ministers.

Religious freedom includes not only individual but also religious groups' freedom to practice their faith together, to establish religious venues and to disseminate religious faith, according to the consensus.

"All Chinese citizens have the responsibility to respect, to protect, and to fight for the principles and values of religious freedom," it stated.

"The consensus is a reckless judgment made by overseas institutes, without full knowledge of China's status quo. It may be a deliberate misinterpretation of Chinese policies on religious affairs," Ye said, "For those one-sided evaluations, we can just let them be. "

Yang Fenggang, director of the Center on Religion and Chinese Society at Purdue University, told the Global Times that he has been planning the symposium for six months as he pressed for more consensus and greater attention to religious freedom among the Chinese public, especially the elite.

Yang said that many discussions were on Christianity in China amid the recent cases of church demolitions and disbanding of house churches.

A Protestant church in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, was torn down on April 29, after rallies by worshippers to prevent demolition of the oversized and unauthorized construction. A local religious affairs officer surnamed Lin in Wenzhou has previously confirmed to the Global Times about the disbandment of a house church.

China Christian Council (CCC) and the National Committee of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches in China (TSPM) called on Monday for rational understanding from churches on the "three revise and one demolition" campaign in Zhejiang, which aimed at hastening urbanization by demolishing illegal constructions.

Authorities were petitioned to respect the feelings of Christians, while the CCC and TSPM called for a halt on demolition and relocation of crosses.

"It is extremely inappropriate to take down crosses that have not violated construction standards or pose safety risks," said the two organizations.

"This may damage China's image as a major power amid the world's criticism and attention," Yang noted.