March 24th, 2005

CONDOLEEZA RICE ATTENDS CHURCH IN BEIJING

Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice attended the Palm Sunday service at the government registered Three Self Patriotic Church in Beijing known as the Gangwashi Church. Although she did not speak at the service, she listened to a translation through headphones. She signed the visitor’s book: “Thank you for allowing me to share Palm Sunday with you. Yours in Christ, Condoleeza Rice.”

According to reporter Patrick Goodenough of the Pacific Rim Bureau (CNSNews.com), China is one of eight nations designated “countries of particular concern” under the U. S. International Religious Freedom Act since 1999. In the State Department’s annual report on The Act, it stated that “China’s constitution provides for freedom of religious belief, but the government seeks to restrict religious practice to government-sanctioned organizations and registered places of worship and to control the growth and scope of activities of religious groups.”

Groups targeted by the government authorities, according to researchers, are Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims and adherents of the Falun Gong meditation sect. The Patriotic Catholic Association does not recognize the Pope and appoints its own bishops. Millions of Catholics who are loyal to the Vatican meet in underground churches and face harassment. The Protestant equivalent is the state-sanctioned Three Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) under which the Gangwashi Church operates. According to reliable sources, at least 75% of all believers in China attend house churches and also face harassment.

Pastors in the TSPM fall out of favor with the government sometimes and they pay the price, according to CNSNews. In 1994, it is reported that police forcibly removed the head pastor of the Gangwashi Church, Rev. Yang Yudong, by escorting him from the church and appointing another pastor in his place. Human rights groups said at that the 72 year-old Pastor Yang had been accused of tolerating dissidents and trying to exert his independence of the TSPM. A member of the congregation, Liu Fenggang, was beaten up by the police for filming a “near-riot” that ensued when Pastor Yang was removed. Liu was later sent to a “re-education through labor” camp for dissident activities. Beijing’s attempt to “tame” the Gangwashi Church misfired as many members left the church and joined house-churches of the area.

Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice called on the Chinese government in a speech in Japan to “embrace some form of open, genuinely representative government. She added, “they will see that freedom works. They will see that democracy works. They will see that freedom of religion and respect for human rights are part of the foundation of descent and successful societies.”