Opium of the People? : Religious Politics in the Xi Jinping Era

Summary, in English

This chapter discusses how the official religious policies stipulated in the so-called Document 19 issued by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in 1982 have transformed into the current religious laws and policies under Xi Jinping. Therefore, it analyses the most recent amendment (2017) of the Religious Affairs Regulations (RAR), Administrative Measures for Religious Groups (2020), Administrative Measures for Religious Clergy (2021), and the State Council Information Office (SCIO) whitepaper (2018) addressing religious affairs in China. The post-Mao period saw an increased liberalisation and decriminalisation of spiritual practices across China. Simultaneously, it was accompanied by substantial growth in the number of believers, newly built religious sites and printed religious books. Yet the official stance was that religion should be eradicated but not with a single blow, which would do more harm than good. Therefore, this chapter elaborates on the argument that the current hard-line religious policies under Xi Jinping do not deviate from the long-term Party objectives set in the 1980s. However, it suggests that China speeds up the Sinicisation of religions and their integration into centralised state structures.

• Author: Martin Lavička
• Editor: Hanna Kupś; Maciej Szatkowski; Michał Dahl
• Department/s: Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University
• Publishing year: 2024
• Language: English
• Pages: 325-342
• Publication/Series: Studies in Critical Social Sciences
• Volume: 282
• Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004691087_015
• Document type: Book chapter
• Publisher: Brill
• Topic: Political Science; Other Social Sciences
• Status: Published
• Project: Chinese Conceptualisation of the Rule of Law: Challenges for the International Legal Order
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISBN: 978-90-04-69108-7; ISBN: 978-90-04-69084-4