Foreign organizations and individuals will not be allowed to offer religious information services over the Internet in China from March, the country’s press reported on Tuesday.
Only Chinese organizations and individuals will be able to operate these services, but they will have to seek permission from the provincial departments of religious affairs, according to the Global Times newspaper.
Once permission is obtained, they will be authorized to preach religious doctrines “that lead to social harmony” and that guide believers “to patriotism and respect for the law.”
In addition, preachers and those who participate in these services will have to register on the online platforms under their real names.
The new measures include a ban on live broadcasting of religious activities such as baptisms, incense burning, Buddha worship or religious chants.
Other than those authorized, “no organization or person” will be authorized to carry out missionary work or religious training, the newspaper said.
The new measures were drafted by the Religious Affairs Administration, the China Cyberspace Administration, the Ministry of Industry and Information, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of State Security.
State security departments will “take charge” of “people who conspire with foreigners” to use religion to jeopardize national security.
The regulations aim to “standardize religious information online” and “guarantee religious freedom for Chinese citizens,” according to a statement from the aforementioned institutions.
According to Chinese authorities, there are approximately 200 million religious believers in the country, which has a population of 1.412 billion people.
As Buddhism and Taoism do not have standardized conversion procedures, authorities simply cite them as “numerous” because of the difficulty of counting them.
There are 38 million Protestants, 6 million Catholics and 5.7 million Muslims in China, according to State Council data in 2018.
While there is officially freedom of worship in China, several international organizations have denounced abuses and repression against Christians and Muslim ethnic minorities.
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