China View: Crackdowns On Chinese Cults Threatens Religious Freedom
BBC News
In recent decades, China has been experiencing a major surge in religious faiths and movements. However, during this period the government has also identified an increase in the formation. Cults in China are generally seen by the government as subversive, anarchistic, secretive groups that exploit and corrupt everyday citizens. The government has occasionally published lists of banned religious groups. Nearly all of these lists place the individual groups in the category of xie jiao which is widely translated as cult or “evil cult”. While these groups have not directly opposed the government’s rule, their ability to stage large-scale disruptions such as protests poses a serious threat to the state’s control of the masses.
When a group is officially labeled a cult, it is also stripped of its status as a religious entity and loses its right to religious freedom. Historically, officials have deliberately suppressed emerging religious movements they view as a threat to social order and national security. The state not only deems these groups illegal, but also actively suppresses them through crackdowns, raids, and orchestrates the destruction of religious objects, texts, and places of worship. China’s constitution, adopted in 1982, recognizes and gives protection to religion. However, these liberties are only upheld if the religion does not "disrupt public order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the educational system of the state." How does the government determine if a religious group is harmful to society?
"The large number of arbitrary arrests and extremely harsh, long sentences imposed on these young church leaders under the guise of being 'anti-evil cult' shows that [Chinese President] Xi's regime has no interest in respecting its citizens' freedom of religion or belief.” -Bob Fu, President of ChinaAid
The government’s view of religion has continued to evolve and change since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. In the 1950s, there were several campaigns that targeted established religions and led to the destruction of groups such as the Yiguandao. During the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, these campaigns against religion drastically intensified. Religion became a primary target of Chairman Mao Zedong’s campaign to eliminate the “Four Olds”. Under his rule, all religious activities were banned, and religious personnel were persecuted. During this time many temples, shrines, churches, and mosques were attacked and destroyed.
After the passing of Mao in 1978, and the implementation of the Reform and Opening Up policies, the country experienced a period of dramatic economic liberalization. The government also began to loosen its control over civil society and religious movements. This allowed for new religious groups to grow and spread their teachings. In the 1990s, the state reinstated stricter measures on religion and began to target specific religious groups that were deemed to be harmful and illegal. The monitoring and tracking of these groups were formalized in 1995 with the publishing of the first formal xie jiao list. This crack down on cults continued to intensify following the Falun Gong incident in 1999. In April of 1999, a woman, Wu Shuoyan, was waiting in line at a McDonald’s in Shandong Province and was killed by members of the Falun Gong, a religious movement.
Following this tragic event, the government escalated its campaign against the cult. “The regime expended millions of hours of cadre work time and billions of dollars in propaganda production to crush the Falun Gong”. The Public Security Bureau established a new branch called the Public Security Anti-Xie Jiao Organization which focused exclusively on xie jiao groups. In November of 2000, another organization was established, commonly known in English as the China Anti-Cult Association. All Falun Gong books, posters, audiotapes, and videotapes were ordered to be destroyed and it was reported that large-scale book burnings were organized in major cities and provinces. This intense campaign against cults did not stop with the Falun Gong, but encompassed a wide range of unofficial religious and spiritual groups. China’s policy under President Xi Jinping has moved in a conservative direction but remains active in the suppression of cults and cultlike activity.
"The McDonald's killing was terrible, and I think the people should be held accountable. But then the government has subsequently gone after members of Eastern Lightning for organising activities that weren't against the law."
- Maya Wang, Hong Kong-based researcher for Human Rights Watch
In 2017, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for the further “sinicization”, or assimilation of with the government’s principles, of religion. He also aimed to bolster the government’s efforts to fight against cults and illegal religious movements. The government has also sought to preserve control over religious groups through strict regulations that require religious bodies to register with the government. While this allows religious movements to legally practice, registered groups are restricted from engaging in religious activities outside officially certified venues and geographical movement is also limited.
To the government there were three categories to which a religion would be classified: a fully sinicized religion, a non-sinicized religion, and a xie jiao. Fully assimilated religions are allowed to operate publicly under the control of the government. Non-sinicized religions operate outside of the government’s control, but are not viewed as a direct threat to social order and national security. However, these groups can be confronted and shut down at any time. Xie jiao are viewed as a “tumor” and are considered a clear and present threat to society.
Those who have been caught or suspected of cult-related activities have been met with severe punishments. Wu Yangming, the founder of the Established King cult, was arrested in April 1994 and executed in September 1995. Xu Shengguang, the founder of the Three Grades of Servant cult, was tried for murder and executed in November 2006. In December of 2024, three Taiwanese citizens were detained by Chinese authorities because they were suspected of being associated with the I-Kuan Tao spiritual movement.
In addition to harsh punishments and religious suppression, the media is also weaponized to spread propaganda and sensationalized portrayals of groups labeled cults by the government. The People’s Daily and the Global Times, which are government operated news outlets, have overtly criticized underground Christian churches. One article published by the Global Times stated that “underground churches and evil cults are spreading like mushrooms ... the problem is very urgent.”
Despite official recognition of the five religions, Buddhism, Daoism, Islam, Christianity (Protestantism), and Catholicism, the government discourages and suppresses the sects within them. Religion in the country is “a highly malleable concept designed to give Chinese authorities maximum latitude in suppressing subversive religions and maintaining state control”. Despite the guidelines published by the government on what defines a cult there is no definitive way to distinguish religious sects from dangerous cults. These severe restrictions placed on religious movements in the country can deter and even prevent citizens from openly practicing their beliefs, which infringes on their individual freedoms.
These restrictions also push religious sects to fractionalize and produce splinter groups. While this division has kept the average group size down, reducing their ability to take large-scale action, this also makes tracking and monitoring these groups more challenging. If left unchecked the more extreme cults would challenge any political system’s ability to preserve social order. However, groups continue to emerge and grow because they are largely products of the sociopolitical environment created and perpetuated by the government’s oppressive regime.
