Reform of religious policy is on the agenda
The government is considering enacting a law on religion to end years of confusion caused by conflicting administrative orders.
Plans to implement effective legislation governing religious groups have climbed up the agenda recently.
'Enacting a law on religion is a major task for the government,' said Peng Gaojian, an official with the Legal Affairs Office at the State Council.
'The rule of law is the principle that should guide China's religious policy,' he told a symposium on religion and law organised by the Central Nationalities University over the weekend.
In addition to two regulations issued in 1994 which set the rules for registration of religious groups at the national level, 25 provinces and municipalities have issued their own regulations for local religious groups.
Cao Siyuan, a legal reform activist, said there must be a separation of powers. Administrative offices could not make the laws and enforce them, he said.
With a national law on religion, the courts, not the local religious bureau or the public security office, would be the arbiter in the event of a dispute.
The call to reform China's religious policy has been gathering momentum since the National Work Conference on Religious Affairs at the end of last year.
President Jiang Zemin said that religion was likely to outlast the state and the party and urged participants to find ways to 'make socialism and religion adapt to each other'.
Liu Peng, a researcher at the USA Institute at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said unless religious affairs were governed according to the rule of law, religious groups were likely to become tools for political struggle.
In the globalised world, a country's management of domestic religious affairs often had international repercussions, said Mou Zongjian, professor at the Central Nationalities University.
He said religion could contribute to social stability and cohesion but could also be a destabilising force, depending on how it was handled by the state.
In the past, Mr Mou said, religious leaders were often urged to profess their support for the government.
'Religion is concerned with spiritual matters. Religious leaders should not be politicised,' he said.
Scholars and officials debated how religious activities outside the five mainstream groups - Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism - should be treated.
Jin Ze, a researcher at the Institute of World Religion of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that some popular religious beliefs should be tolerated and given legal status.
He said people needed to have an outlet to meet their spiritual needs.
In areas where local religious traditions were strong, such as Fujian province, Mr Jin said, support for the outlawed Falun Gong spiritual movement was not high.
