CPC Tightens Crackdown on “Superstitions,” but also Targets Religions
ICC Note: The Chinese Communist Party recently enacted stricter regulations to crack down on officials who believe in “feudal superstitions.” These regulations are, in part, being used to target religious groups that do not fall within the government-controlled sects of Catholicism, Protestantism, Buddhism, Islam, and Taoism. Consequences may include expulsion or prison for those who are found in violation of the new rules.
01/04/2016 China (Asia News) – The Chinese Communist Party has launched new and more stringent rules to punish members who believe “feudal superstitions.” For the first time, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has categorized specific types of infringement in new rules which came into force on Jan. 1, 2016, covering the 88 million Party members.
The “feudal superstitions” are in fact for some tenets of Taoism and Buddhism. The practice of feng shui – the art of geomancy that aims to harmonize the universe – and the prediction of the future are specifically targeted. The latter also includes the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism related to the rebirth of the Lama. According to Xinhua, the official Chinese agency, “a large number of high-level Communist officials have been accused in recent years of taking part in these practices.”
In the latest edition of the internal rules, dated 2003, “feudal superstitions” were categorized in “activities that disrupt Party productivity”. The new category has instead been created specifically: the penalty for those who “organize” these activities is expulsion and later putting impeached; those who “participate” is first warned and then expelled. In recent days, the Commission indicted and arrested a senior executive of the province of Ningxia, Bai Xueshan, accused of having put “too much faith” in their own feng shui.
Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has also published a new book with the “information which collected previously undisclosed remarks made by Xi since the party’s 18th congress in November 2012. Among these a passage stands out in which the president – also Secretary General of the Party and army chief – warns the Communist officials “not to discuss central policies in public ” and “not to ask questions that should not be asked.” All just a few days ahead of the next general meeting of the Commission, which is scheduled from 12 to 14 January 2016.