Religious Leaders Invited to Zhongnanhai over Chinese New Year
2006.5/6.4
(ANS) A few days before the Chinese Spring Festival this year, leaders of the five main religious bodies in China were invited to the Chinese government's headquarters at Zhongnanhai in Beijing to meet with politburo member and chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Jia Qinglin. Tian Feng issue number 281 contains a news report originally published by China's Xinhua news agency on this meeting.
Zhongnanhai is the name given to a complex of buildings near Tian'an Men Square and the Forbidden City in Beijing which serves as the headquarters for Chinese government leaders. On 22nd January this year, heads of the five main religious bodies in China, including Christians, gathered at this leadership compound to exchange new year's greetings with one of the top government officials in the country, Jia Qinglin.
During the meeting, Jia reflected on the progress that has been made concerning religious affairs in China in recent years. He recalled the basic foundations for religious work laid down by former leaders Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin and moved on to more recent developments, such as an attempt to further standardize and regulate the management of religious affairs through the recent publication of the new "Regulations on Religious Affairs" (effective from 1st March 2005, see ANS 2005.3/4.1). As well as reiterating the efforts made by the Chinese government in the area of religious affairs, Jia also emphasized the part religious bodies themselves have played, noting their contributions towards building a more harmonious socialist society and implementing improved training programmes for young religious personnel. Looking to the future, Jia expressed the hope that religious believers would continue to contribute to China's overall development and play their part in moving forward together with the rest of the country.
Jia commented how ties with overseas religious bodies have opened up and broadened in recent years, but he reminded the religious leaders of the need to maintain independence and self-reliance in the face of outside influences which could prove harmful to national security and stability. As a significant group within society, Jia also stressed the need for religious bodies to continually examine themselves and look for ways of improving both their internal structures as well as outside communication with other sectors of society.
Finally, Jia commented on the vital importance of training high quality religious personnel for the future healthy development of religious life in China, and urged religious leaders to place training programmes at the top of their agendas. In particular, he highlighted a need to raise up a new generation of religious leaders who, like their predecessors, maintain high religious, moral and academic standards, who love their country and their faith and are willing to work in harmony with political authorities while, at the same time, possessing the respect of the wider community in general.
