China and the Catholic Church -- Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

[trotsky]

http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/china-and-the-catholic-church-yesterday-today-and-tomorrow

...The Vatican had hoped that the September agreement with China would pave the way to greater unity between the underground Catholic Church (recognized by Rome but apparently still illegal in China) and the state-sponsored Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association.

Among the provisions of the agreement made public, Pope Francis has recognized seven Chinese bishops illicitly but validly consecrated and appointed them to dioceses in China. The Pope and the Chinese government both recognize all bishops currently appointed in China.

...The history of the Church in China reveals both promise and frustration, and the current relations between China and the Church seem to pick up where the Christian missionaries of the eighth, 10th and 17th century left off — with an intricate dance of clashing cultures and heightened concern for the tensions between the Church and the Chinese government.

...“Anything that is not completely registered with the Chinese government is deemed an illicit activity,” said (Steven) Mosher (president of the Population Research Council), who in 1979 became the first American social scientist since the Cultural Revolution to be granted permission to conduct anthropological research in mainland China. “The punishment for such activity is to have your money confiscated, the building you’re operating in confiscated or torn down, and to have the leaders of that illicit activity arrested.”

The whole article is kind of long and does a pretty good job summarizing the history of the RCC in China. Ignorant, agenda-driven statements like "the Chinese government persecutes theists" clearly fail to portray the actual situation in China. Theists and atheists who pose no threat to the state are not persecuted. Theists and atheists who do, are. Belief in gods has far less to do with what's going on there than does opposition to the goals and power of the government.