New reports expose China's Communist Party agenda for all other religions

25.01.2020 21:46

WND

Already engaged in the most severe crackdown on Christianity in more than a decade, the Chinese Communist Party is confiscating Buddhist publications and destroying ancient statues. Authorities across the country are targeting books by a prominent Buddhist monk, Venerable Master Chin Kung, whose teachings have been banned by the party, reports Bitter Winter magazine, which…

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Already engaged in the most severe crackdown on Christianity in more than a decade, the Chinese Communist Party is confiscating Buddhist publications and destroying ancient statues.

Authorities across the country are targeting books by a prominent Buddhist monk, Venerable Master Chin Kung, whose teachings have been banned by the party, reports Bitter Winter magazine, which focuses on human rights in the country.

Authorities with the Religious Affairs Bureau raided a Buddhist meeting hall in Linzhou, confiscated books and buried them.

"A local Buddhist told Bitter Winter that most of the books were by Venerable Master Chin Kung, a 92-year-old monk of Pure Land, a school of Mahayana Buddhism founded by him, revered around the world for propagating intercultural and interfaith harmony. The officials claimed the books were confiscated because the master's teachings are banned since the CCP labeled them as 'illegal,' even 'heretical,' 'indoctrinating believers and affecting China's mainstream ideology," the report said.

A month later, a government agency designated a Buddhist hall as an "illegal construction" because it "has not been approved by the government and unlawfully occupied arable land."

The power was cut, the caretaker driven off and windows and doors were boarded up, the report said.

"According to a villager, the hall was built on a barren hill, and the land had never been used to grow crops. Furthermore, the person in charge had been paying rent for the land to the village committee for ten years before the Buddhist hall was built," the report said.

The villager said the government "does not allow people to practice their faith, regardless that the Constitution expressly provides for the freedom of religion."

"If you try reasoning with authorities, they will punish you. We can’t do anything about it," he told Bitter Winter.

Also, a Buddhist temple in Tai'an was ordered to burn nearly 100 books.

"A local official revealed that the government was inspecting religious venues, and if these books were not burned and discovered by the higher-ups, local leaders would get into serious troubles," the report said.

Only weeks earlier, the publication reported government officials were out to destroy every Buddhist statue.

One target was the ancient Baiyun Temple on Mount Wutai, one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains in China. It was built during the prosperous Tang Dynasty from A.D. 650 to 755.

"Nearly 180 Buddhist icons in this temple have been demolished in three rounds since May 2019. The official reason given by officials was that they were 'too tall.' But a local Buddhist told Bitter Winter that most of these statues were shorter than three meters, some not even a meter in height."

The monetary damage has been estimated at $1.4 million.

A government official told Bitter Winter that the authorities had spent about 2 million RMB (about $290,000) on the demolition. He added that officials treat the eradication of religious statues as a political issue, and anyone who dares to interfere with it could be arrested.

"The CCP is using taxpayers' money to crack down on religion – 800,000 RMB [about $110,000] to demolish this particular statue – instead of attending to its duties," a regular at the Huayan Temple told Bitter Winter.