Scholars urge Vatican to speak out on China’s religious freedom abuses
International Christian concern reports that a scholar studying China has called for the Vatican to speak up about human rights abuses by the Chinese government, noting that dialogue between the Vatican and the Chinese government does not happen on equal terms. Fredrik Fällman, Associate Professor of Sinology at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden has said that China should be treated like any other country and "play by the same rules" as others.
“The Catholic Church often comments on the situation in other countries” he said. “Yet in China, the Vatican keeps silent on many concerning developments – including structural religious persecution, labor rights issues, and human rights abuses against the Uyghurs. It seems Vatican officials are holding China to a different standard compared to other countries.”
Although the Vatican reached an agreement with the Chinese government in 2018 on the appointment of bishops in efforts to unite the state-run church and the underground church, Christians in China continue to be persecuted and harassed. The agreement was renewed in 2020 despite the lack of results the first time around.
In 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a campaign of Sinicisation aimed at enforcing and bolstering Chinese and communist ideals and identity on all religious practice in the country. The campaign has included instructing churches to remove images of the Ten Commandments and replace them with sayings from Mao Zedong and Xi Jinping.
The Sinicisation campaign even extends to Hong Kong, where religion has traditionally been relatively unregulated, most recently in the form of a “national security law” which entered into force last summer. Under the new law, a number of Catholics in Hong Kong have been arrested and charged with terrorism, sedition, and foreign collusion.
Source: persecution.org
