Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07SHANGHAI229
2007-04-19 08:16:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Shanghai
Cable title:  

CHINA CHRISTIAN COUNCIL PRESIDENT CAO MEETING

Tags:  PGOV KIRF PINR CH 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO0198
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHGH #0229/01 1090816
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 190816Z APR 07
FM AMCONSUL SHANGHAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5727
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0990
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 0571
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0552
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 0577
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 0677
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 0456
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 0063
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE 0051
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0126
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 6109
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SHANGHAI 000229 

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DEPT FOR EAP/CM, AND DRL/IRF
NSC FOR WILDER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 4/19/2017
TAGS: PGOV KIRF PINR CH
SUBJECT: CHINA CHRISTIAN COUNCIL PRESIDENT CAO MEETING

REF: A) SHANGHAI 214 B) KAO-BACCAM 4-18-2007 E-MAIL

CLASSIFIED BY: Simon Schuchat, Deputy Principal Officer, , U.S.
Consulate Shanghai.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)



C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SHANGHAI 000229

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DEPT FOR EAP/CM, AND DRL/IRF
NSC FOR WILDER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 4/19/2017
TAGS: PGOV KIRF PINR CH
SUBJECT: CHINA CHRISTIAN COUNCIL PRESIDENT CAO MEETING

REF: A) SHANGHAI 214 B) KAO-BACCAM 4-18-2007 E-MAIL

CLASSIFIED BY: Simon Schuchat, Deputy Principal Officer, , U.S.
Consulate Shanghai.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (C) Summary: In an April 18 luncheon hosted by the Consul
General, China Christian Council (CCC) President Cao Shengjie
confirmed that all Protestant churches must go through the China
Christian Council/Three-Self Patriotic Movement (CCC/TSPM) in
order to register, although these churches did not have to be
affiliated with the CCC/TSPM in order to register. Pressed,
they could not provide any concrete examples of churches not
affiliated with the CCC/TSPM that had been able to register.
Rev. Cao was pleased with her recent trip to the United States
in which she met with think-tanks, USG officials, NGOs, and
church leaders. While disappointed that many interlocutors
misunderstood the religious situation in China, she valued her
discussions and was open to more exchanges on religion with U.S.
organizations. Cao said the Chinese government was becoming
more supportive of religious organizations and recognized that
religious organizations could play a positive role in promoting
social stability and building a "harmonious society." According
to Cao, the government's emphasis on "harmonious society" had
provided the CCC/TSPM with more space to expand social services.
End Summary.

--------------
U.S. Visit
--------------


2. (C) The Consul General hosted a lunch for CCC President Cao
Shengjie on April 18 to discuss her recent trip to the United
States. CCC Executive Deputy Secretary General Chen Meilin, CCC
Deputy Secretary General Bao Jiayuan, CCC Training Department
Secretary Gu Mengfei, Deputy Principal Officer,

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Political/Economic Section Chief and Poloff also attended the
lunch. According to Cao, her U.S. trip was very useful as this
was the first time she had met with think-tanks such as the
Brookings Institute. She also met with NGOs, Christian Church
leaders in New York and Washington D.C., faith-based
organizations, U.S. Ambassador for Religious Freedom John

Hanford and Congressman Chris Smith. In addition, she was
interviewed by the Associated Press and wrote an editorial for
the Washington Post/Newsweek's website on religious issues
(http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/g uestvoices).


3. (C) Cao lamented that many of her U.S. interlocutors had
little understanding of the religious situation in China and
were surprised to hear that the Protestant Church was growing.
For example, one interlocutor was convinced that the Chinese
government had deleted words from the Bibles printed and
distributed in China. Another believed that all sermons had to
be approved by government officials. She noted that this was
not true. Even if she did show her sermons to government
officials, she observed, they would not understand them.
Despite these misunderstandings, she valued her meetings in the
United States and welcomed having more exchanges. Consul
General noted that he had heard about Rev. Cao's meeting with
Ambassador Hanford and inquired about the information centers to
facilitate theological exchanges between Chinese and American
professors and students via the State Department's International
Religious Freedom office and the CCC that was discussed in the
meeting (Ref. B). Rev. Cao acknowledged the discussion, but was
non-committal about the idea.

--------------
Government Attitudes Shifting?
--------------


4. (C) Rev. Cao welcomed President Hu Jintao's "harmonious
society" concept and noted that like Christianity, it emphasized
reconciliation. The concept indicated that government officials
were also beginning to recognize that religious groups could
play a positive role in promoting stability. The fact that
CCC/TSPM was able to expand the Nanjing Seminary and get back
its property in Shanghai was an indication that the government
attitudes towards religious groups was changing. She added that
State Administration for Religious Affairs Director Ye Xiaowen

SHANGHAI 00000229 002 OF 003


gave a three-hour multi-media presentation at the most recent
Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)
meeting in Beijing. This was the first time that there had been
a presentation on religion at the CPPCC. Delegates reacted
positively to Ye's presentation, and after the session, many
approached Rev. Cao to ask about the CCC/TSPM.

--------------
CCC/TSPM's Role In Registration
--------------


5. (C) According to Rev. Cao, Chinese regulations clearly
stated that all religious organizations must go through a
religious body in order to register a meeting point. This meant
that for protestant churches, they must go through the CCC/TSPM.
She added, however, that this was not the only requirement and
that organizations must also get permission from other
organizations, such as neighborhood committees. When she was
head of the Shanghai CCC, a church had problems registering
because its neighbors complained about early Sunday morning hymn
singing. After some negotiations with the neighborhood
committee, the church agreed to move its services to a more
secluded location and was able to register.


6. (C) CCC Executive Deputy Secretary General Chen Meilin added
that the law also required that the religious organization be
headed by a trained minister. The minister did not need to have
formal training at a CCC/TSPM seminary. She added that it was
the CCC/TSPM's wish to help the government in identifying
capable leaders for these organizations. CCC Deputy Secretary
General Bao Jiayuan added that 5 or 6 years ago, the government
discovered that two churches that had registered were members of
Eastern Lightning, which is considered by the Chinese government
to be a "cult." The CCC/TSPM's involvement in the registration
process was helpful to the government in determining whether a
church was affiliated with a cult.


7. (C) Chen said that to her knowledge, it was not necessary
for Protestant religious organizations to be affiliated with the
CCC/TSPM in order to register. When pressed, neither Chen nor
Rev. Cao could provide any concrete examples of non-CCC/TSPM
affiliated churches that were able to register. They claimed
that there were such churches in Zhejiang province, but could
not provide any details. Chen added that the registration issue
was handled by provincial CCC/TSPM's and, as representatives of
the national CCC/TSPM, they had little information on the issue.

--------------
Shortage of Clergy
--------------


8. (C) The CCC officials said that one of the greatest
challenges currently faced by the CCC/TSPM was the shortage of
clergy. Rev. Cao said the CCC/TSPM was trying to encourage
young Christians to dedicate themselves to the church. However,
this was very difficult. Most new seminarians came from the
countryside. Few came from Shanghai, where there was a great
deal of pressure for young people to get a high paying job. The
CCC/TSPM was now focused on training more lay persons. Rev. Cao
said that lay volunteers already played a large role in running
churches and this would continue in the long-term. Bao, who
also served as Director of the CCC/TSPM Training Department,
said that there were two general training programs for lay
preachers. Urban volunteers could attend night classes and get
a certificate in a few years. Rural residents could attend a
one-year course.

--------------
Expanding Social Services
--------------


9. (C) Rev. Cao noted while the government's emphasis on
"harmonious society" had provided the CCC/TSPM with more space,
it was vital that the CCC/TSPM manage this opportunity correctly
and do everything legally. She added that it was also important
for the CCC/TSPM to take advantage of this opportunity and
expand its social services. It was important for the CCC/TSPM
to be more involved in society and show that Christianity was a
positive force. This would allow them to gain the people's
trust, which was needed for the CCC/TSPM to develop. Unlike

SHANGHAI 00000229 003 OF 003


Shanghai Catholic Bishop Jin who believed that the Catholic
Church would be able to open up schools and clinics in five or
six years (reftel),Rev. Cao said it would be impossible for the
CCC/TSPM to operate schools as this would violate the separation
of church and state. However, CCC/TSPM was already running
small clinics. For example, the church in which she presides
over in Shanghai has organized free medical consultations for
congregants after service for the past 10 years. In Zhejiang,
the Zhejiang CCC/TSPM was using its bible-distribution vehicle
to transport retired doctors and nurses to the countryside to
give free medical care.


10. (C) Chen added that the CCC/TSPM provided training on
HIV/AIDs prevention to its pastors last week. The CCC/TSPM was
also becoming more involved in assisting autistic children and
had provided support to three autistic centers in China, located
in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Qingdao. Chen noted that the church
had also become more involved in providing counseling training
to its pastors. In cooperation with Fuller Seminary, it
recently organized a seminar for 20 CCC/TSPM Pastors and 5
American Pastors to discuss counseling. Chen and Bao also
attended the seminar and said that American and Chinese pastors
were involved in counseling congregants on the many of the same
issues, primarily marriage, children's education and employment
problems. However, Chinese Pastors worked harder then American
pastors because congregants had less access to professional
counseling services and came to them with more problems.

--------------
Personnel Moves?
--------------


11. (C) Rev. Cao was very cautious about personnel questions.
The 76-year old Cao refused to discuss her retirement plans and
who would replace her as CCC President. She also had little to
say about Shanghai's new Party Secretary Xi Jinping. She noted
that he had yet to meet with local leaders. She did say that
Xi's father, Xi Zhongxun was a good man with a good attitude
towards religion.
JARRETT