ICC Note: State-sanctioned religious associations in China, including Christian ones, have proposed a measure on July 31 in Beijing to demand all places of worship to fly the national flag. The raising of national flag will also serve as “an evaluation index in the activities of selecting harmonious temples or churches.” The proposal was criticized by many as a way to elevate atheism and replace religions with the Party.

08/02/2018 China (Radio Free Asia) – State-sanctioned religious associations in China have proposed a measure that would require all places of worship to fly the national flag, according to state media, in an expansion of a similar policy enforced on mosques in the largely Muslim Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) last year that drew strong criticism from the main Uyghur exile group as at attack on freedom of belief.

The report, published on Tuesday by the official Global Times newspaper, followed an earlier article detailing a new pilot program through which the Islamic Association of China (IAC) will outfit Muslim Chinese nationals making the holy “hajj” pilgrimage with GPS tracking devices, ostensibly to ensure their safety during the trip.

“All religious venues should raise China’s national flag to strengthen awareness of respect to the flag and preserve the flag’s dignity,” the Global Times reported of the measure, which it said was proposed by representatives of national religious groups, including the IAC, the Buddhist Association of China, the Taoist Association of China, and the Bishops’ Conference of the Catholic Church in China.

According to the measure, which was proposed by the representatives at a conference in Beijing on Tuesday, the flag should be raised at religious venues during national holidays and “important festivals and celebrations of each religion … while simultaneously raising religious flags” and placed “before religious flags in the row.”

It also includes the raising of national flag as “an evaluation index in the activities of selecting harmonious temples or churches,” the report said, suggesting that places of worship which do not follow the practice could face official scrutiny.

Dolkun Isa, the president of the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress (WUC) exile group, told RFA Thursday that requiring places of worship to raise China’s “atheist flag” is “an attack on all religions” in the country.

“This is an attempt by the Chinese Communist Party to place atheism above all religions and turn religious venues into communist propaganda centers,” he said.

“This tramples the religious freedom of all believers and violates China’s Constitution, which guarantees that freedom.”

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