China's State Administration of Religious Affairs, part of its Ministry of Justice, last week published for comment new draft rules for the Administration of Foreign Religious Activities in the People's Republic of China. (Full text in Chinese). (Full unofficial English translation via Google Translate).
CNN summarizes the proposed rules:
Though the draft rules affirm China's commitment to respecting "the freedom of religious belief of foreigners," the list of potential new restrictions and requirements could make practicing that belief far more difficult.
In particular, the draft rules include a list of activities that foreigners should not conduct within China, such as "interfering with or dominating the affairs of Chinese religious groups," advocating "extremist religious thoughts," using religion to conduct terrorist activities, or "interfering with the appointment or management of Chinese clergy members."
The last point appears aimed at the Vatican, with whom China has a longstanding dispute over the appointment of bishops by the official Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association.
