International Religious Freedom Reports

International Religious Freedom Reports Religious teams may apply to the government to lease land on concessional terms via Home Affairs Bureau sponsorship. Religious groups may apply to develop or use facilities in accordance with local laws. The U.S. consulate general affirmed U.S. authorities help for shielding freedom of faith and perception in conferences with the government. The Consul General and consulate common officers met often with spiritual leaders and group representatives to promote religious equality. Senior government leaders typically participated in massive-scale occasions held by spiritual organizations. The SAR authorities and Legislative Council representatives participated in Confucian and Buddhist commemorative activities, Taoist festivals, and other religious occasions throughout the year. During the 12 months, Falun Gong practitioners reported usually with the ability to operate overtly and have interaction in behavior that remained prohibited in mainland China, together with distributing literature and conducting public exhibitions. A court docket in November heard the government’s attraction of a 2018 choice overturning the federal government’s confiscation of Falun Gong banners based mostly on a requirement to acquire prior authorities approval for such shows. According to Falun Gong practitioners, the SAR authorities, which controls a major number of giant venues within the metropolis, denied Falun Gong members’ applications to rent venues, typically telling practitioners that the venues were fully booked. In April a personal tenting ground agreed to rent area for a Falun Gong convention with more than 1200 members, of which 800 had deliberate to stay on the campsite; nonetheless, two days before the occasion, the non-public venue cancelled. Protests, together with several with over one million participants, took place frequently throughout the latter half of the year. The protests began in response to the SAR authorities’s introduction of a bill in February that might have allowed for extradition of SAR residents to other jurisdictions worldwide, together with mainland China. Participants included a wide variety of civic groups, including some religious groups. Publication of spiritual material must conform to guidelines determined by the State Publishing Administration. Regulations issued by the UFWD assert state management over all aspects of Tibetan Buddhism, including spiritual venues, groups, personnel, and colleges. The rules additionally give the government formal control over constructing and managing non secular buildings, and require monasteries to acquire official permission to carry large-scale religious occasions or gatherings. The UFWD controls the number of Tibetan spiritual leaders, including lamas. Evangelical Christian and unbiased native nondenominational church buildings, a few of that are affiliated with mainland church buildings, are also present. Various reports estimate the Muslim inhabitants at 5,000 to 10,000. Smaller religious groups include Baha’is, who estimate their membership at more than 2,000, and Falun Gong practitioners, who estimate their numbers at 20 to 50 individuals. The Basic Law states residents have freedom of non secular perception and the liberty to publicly preach as well as conduct and participate in non secular actions. These rights may be restricted in excessive conditions for nationwide security causes. The Basic Law additional stipulates the federal government shall not interfere within the internal affairs of religious teams or in their relations with their counterparts outdoors Macau. It bars the government from limiting religious activities that don't contravene the laws of the SAR. The U.S. government estimates the entire population at 611,000 . Falun Gong practitioners continued to state they suspected the CCP funded personal groups that harassed them at public occasions. Practitioners also reported persevering with difficulties renting venues for giant meetings and cultural occasions from both government and private companies. CCP members, together with Tibetans and retired officers, are required to be atheists and are forbidden from participating in spiritual practices. CCP members who belong to religious organizations are subject to numerous kinds of punishment, including termination of their employment and expulsion from the CCP. At local ranges, party leaders and branches of the UFWD, SARA, and the BAC are required to coordinate implementation of spiritual policies in monasteries. According to a Pew Research Center 2010 estimate, fifty eight.9 % of the population are folk religionists, 17.3 p.c Buddhist, 7.2 percent Christian, 1.2 percent different religions , and 15.4 % unaffiliated. The SAR Government Information Bureau 2019 yearbook doesn't provide an estimate for Buddhists but states they are quite a few and that individuals typically practice a combination of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Chinese folk religions. According to the yearbook, nearly all of the inhabitants practices Buddhism or Chinese people religions. The SAR Government Information Bureau estimates 5.2 p.c of the inhabitants are Roman Catholics, of whom more than half are overseas domestic workers and different expatriates, and 1.three p.c of the inhabitants are Protestants. Protestant denominations embrace the Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Pentecostal, and Presbyterian Churches. Regulations stipulate that, depending on the perceived geographic area of affect of the lama, relevant administrative entities may deny permission for a lama to be recognized as reincarnated and these administrative entities must approve reincarnations. The government maintains a registry of officially recognized reincarnate lamas. Central government rules regarding faith are issued by the CCP’s United Front Work Department . The UFWD’s Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Work manages religious affairs through the State Administration of Religious Affairs . While technically a state company, SARA was subsumed into the UFWD underneath the State Council’s 2018 revisions to the Regulations on Religious Affairs. Under the Basic Law, the SAR authorities, quite than the central government of the People’s Republic of China , safeguards spiritual freedom within the SAR.