The Sinicization of Religion in China: An Appraisal

Early last year, the Chinese Government issued new rules and reglations tightening oversight over religious congregations. In September 2023, strict laws were enforced requiring religious sites and activities to support government policies of ‘Sinicization’, which prohibits religious activity if it “endanger(s) national security, disrupt(s) social order [or] damage(s) national interests.” These regulations are part of a long-standing strategy to make religion fall in line with Communism and create religious practices with Chinese characteristics. The other objective is to ensure loyalty of all Chinese citizens to the Communist Party of China (CPC), which is officially atheist. Further, since 2013 such legal measures are aimed at bringing religion in line with traditional Chinese culture and more importantly, with “Xi Jinping’s Thought”. The bottom line is that Xi Jinping has sought to ensure that religion is China is completely under control of the State. This has had its implications for the minority Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang and the followers of Protestantism in regions like Hong Kong.

Theoretically though China’s constitution allows its citizens the “freedom of religious beliefs” and the government recognizes, Buddhism, Catholicism, Islam, Protestantism and Daoism (also known as Taoism) as religions. However, the State closely monitors religious activity and according to the Pew Research Centre, China ranks among the world’s most restrictive governments. Officially, the number of registered religious believers is around two hundred million, or less than 10% of China’s population. However, the number of Chinese adults who practice religion or hold religious beliefs is probably much higher. All such activity whether overground or underground is strictly monitored. As seen in Tibet and Xinjiang the Chinese surveillance state allows China to closely monitor all activity including religion.

Chinese Buddhism, and Taoism are shown greater leniency in practice than other religions, such as Islam and Christianity according to Pew Research Centre. The practice of any faith other than those formally recognised is prohibited. The United Front Work Department supervises five state-sanctioned patriotic religious associations, with one of which religious organizations must register. In recent years, adherents of all religions, including both state-sanctioned and banned groups, face intensifying persecution.

As a political party, the CPC is officially atheist and prohibits its roughly 98 million members from holding religious beliefs and requires expulsion of those who belong to religious organizations. As per CPC rules, membership of the party and holding of religious beliefs are incompatible. Families of CPC members are officially discouraged from publicly participating in religious ceremonies. It is in this context that one needs to look at Sinicization being pursued so vigorously by President Xi Jinping. It is very clear that for the CPC and Xi Jinping ‘Sinicization’ is a profoundly political act which requires religious leaders and institutions to demonstrably embrace State Socialism and leadership of the CPC. In practice, Sinicization takes various forms, including the removal of crosses from churches and demolition of domes and minarets on mosques to give them a Chinese look. Church priests and imams in Mosques have been told to focus on teachings that reflect socialist values The government has also issued an annotated version of the Quran to bring Islamic teachings in line with “Chinese culture in the new era.”

“Sinicization” particularly affects the “foreign” religions, including Islam and Christianity, whose adherents are expected to prioritize Chinese traditions over their own traditions and pledge total loyalty to the State. This has given rise to different forms of control and persecution. Sinicization also applies to all ethnic minorities in China and there are 56 of them. In effect, Sinicization also means ‘Hanization’ and therefore, many ethnic minorities suffer persecution at the hands of the Chinese state. It is well known that in Xinjiang the Uyghur Muslims are not given the right to practice their religion. As is well known, ‘Sinicization’ has also entailed the imprisonment of vast numbers of Uyghur, Kazakh, and Hui Muslims as well as several Christian leaders. Thus, ‘Sinicization’ is not a mere slogan, but a policy which is enforced to meet the priorities of the Communist Party.

In Hong Kong for instance, religious figures have faced increased censorship under the national security law passed in 2020. In one instance, Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, former Catholic Bishop of Hong Kong, was arrested (2021) on suspicions of “collusion with foreign forces”. Consequently, the Catholic Church in Hong Kong stopped its annual commemorative mass to mark the Tiananmen Square massacre (1989). Of far greater significance is the fact that China is home to one of the largest populations of religious prisoners. According to Amnesty International, some are tortured or killed, while in custody. Instances of arbitrary detentions and violence carried out with impunity has led the US State Department to designate China as a country of particular concern over religious freedom in its annual reports issued since 1999.

President Xi Jinping is the first Chinese leader to give prominence to religion in word and deed. This is because he wanted to make all religions conform to the rules and regulations promulgated by the CPC. In a speech in 2016, Xi Jinping called for ‘Sinicization of religion’ as he wanted to the CPC to guide the adaptation of religions to a socialist society in the wake of more Chinese taking up religion of one faith or the other. Earlier, during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), religions were essentially banned, and adherents were forced to go underground or persecuted. In the 1980s, the CPC acknowledged the Chinese people’s complex relationship with religion. The following decades saw a revival of religious institutions and groups, and even tolerance of underground religions not directly under state control. Chinese law, however, strictly regulates religion by forbidding state organs, public organizations, or individuals from compelling citizens to follow a particular faith. In practice, however, the exact opposite is occurring through the policy of Sinicization. It is thus all pervasive and affects all forms of religious activity. Not only does Sinicization have an enormous impact domestically, it also allows China to bolster its image internationally by making false claims. For instance, Sinicization of Tibetan Buddhism is being undertaken to show that China is the original home of Buddhism. China today claims to be the leader of the faith globally. Thus, Xi Jinping’s policies are leading to lesser religious and ethnic freedom, something that goes against the very constitutional ethos of the PRC