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Keegan Elmer

Two employees from a government-backed scientific institute have been sacked and come under Communist Party investigation after a Taoist ritual was performed during a groundbreaking ceremony for a building in western China. 
The ritual took place at the construction site of the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics’ experimental thorium reactor in Wuwei, Gansu province, on Thursday. 
Beijing tightens grip on religion with ban on profit-making activities
The institute is part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the country’s top state scientific research body. 
Photos and footage posted online showed a man – reportedly a farmer – dressed as a Taoist priest and “ridding the site of evil” at a table laden with sacrificial offerings. 
The institute was soon criticised for organising the religious ritual, prompting one apology on Saturday and another on Monday.

In China, all religious activities come under the close scrutiny and control of the officially atheist party. 
In a statement on Monday, the institute said two of its employees had been fired and subjected to party disciplinary procedures. While neither had taken part in the ritual, they had failed to stop it, it said. 
“This activity has created a negative influence on society. We recognise our mistake, and hereby express our deep apologies to our colleagues in society,” the institute said. 
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City and county officials called in the construction company for meetings after the incident. The deputy director of the management committee of the industrial district, and seven other public officials who attended the ceremony were subjected to government disciplinary action.


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Two Chinese science institute employees sacked over Taoist ritual at building site 

A man dressed as a Taoist priest performs a ritual during a groundbreaking ceremony at a Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics reactor site in Wuwei, Gansu province. Photo: Handout

=== NO ARCHIVE IMAGE === ATNX5 SUPERSTITION01 Two workers suspended after Chinese priests hired to "exorcise evil" during ground-opening ceremony at Chinese Academy of Sciences; the academy has been criticised for being superstitious and "turning its back on science". http://toutiao.chinaso.com/sh/detail/20180501/1000200032975781525128383396741536_1.html

http://www.ce.cn/xwzx/gnsz/gdxw/201805/01/t20180501_28992544.shtml

http://news.eastday.com/s/20180430/u1a13869639.html