SHANGHAI ACADEMICS ON CHINA'S PROTESTANTS, CCC/TSPM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 SHANGHAI 000360

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DEPT FOR EAP/CM AND DRL/IRF
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E.O. 12958: DECL: 8/27/2033
TAGS: PGOV PINR KIRF CH
SUBJECT: SHANGHAI ACADEMICS ON CHINA'S PROTESTANTS, CCC/TSPM
LEADERSHIP

REF: A) 2007 SHANGHAI 105; B) 2007 SHANGHAI 664; C) 2007 SHANGHAI 47

CLASSIFIED BY: Christopher Beede, Pol/Econ Section Chief, U.S.
Consulate , Shanghai .
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (C) Summary. Academic contacts in Shanghai describe
Protestantism in China as growing in number and diversity.
There are three categories of Protestants in China: the official
church, unofficial urban churches, and unofficial rural
churches. Members of unofficial rural churches have limited
contact with overseas churches, tend to be very secretive, and
are especially pious. Unofficial urban churches have wealthier
parishioners, numerous contacts with overseas churches, and
well-educated members. Efforts by the official church (also
known as the China Christian Council/Three Self-Patriotic
Movement, or CCC/TSPM) to control the underground churches have
been ineffective. The academics are also unimpressed with the
CCC's new President, Gao Feng, and said that, in general, the
CCC/TSPM's new batch of leaders lack the intellect and influence
of past leaders. One academic predicted that the growth of
Protestantism will eventually slow down as the Chinese
infatuation with the West wanes. End Summary.

Protestantism Growing
--------------


2. (C) In late July/early August, Poloffs met with some of
Shanghai's leading religious academic experts to discuss the
development of Protestantism in East China. In a conversation
with Poloffs on August 7, East China Normal University Professor
Liu Zhongyu provided an overview of how religions are developing
in China. He is one of the researchers who conducted a famous
and controversial survey on religious belief in China in late

2006. That survey found that China could have as many as 300
million religious believers. (See reftel A.) Liu still stands
by the survey's findings, noting that the questions were very
clear and produced clear results showing that 31.4 percent of
people surveyed were religious. He attributed the increase in
religious believers to two factors. First, people can be more
open about their religious beliefs and are more willing to
discuss their beliefs. Second, the spread of a market economy
in China has increased the level of insecurity in people's
lives. People are turning to religion to deal with these
insecurities.


3. (C) According to the survey's findings, the majority of the
people surveyed are followers of traditional Eastern religions
such as Buddhism (33.1 percent),traditional folk religions
(26.5 percent) or Daoism (6.4) percent. A significant portion
(12.4 percent) are Protestants. Only 6 percent of the people
surveyed saw themselves as Catholics. Liu added that while
China is still dominated by traditional Eastern religions,
Protestantism is the fastest growing religion. Protestantism is
growing in both urban and rural communities. In cities, college
students and professors are interested in Protestantism because
of their admiration for Western ideas and trends. Students who
have traveled abroad also tend to convert to Protestantism and
bring back their religious beliefs to the universities.
Protestantism in the countryside can be traced back to the work
of Western missionaries in the early 1900s. At first, these
missionaries had problems converting people because traditional
religions were still very strong. However, during the Cultural
Revolution, many Buddhist temples and other religious buildings
were destroyed, making it impossible for people to go to
temples. Many people turned to Protestantism which did not
require believers to go to a certain place to worship.

Chinese Protestants: Rural, Urban, and Official
-------------- --


4. (C) Contacts described three distinctively different groups
of Protestants: Urban Underground/Unofficial Churches, Rural
Underground/Unofficial Churches, and the Official Church. East
China Normal University Professor Liu said that the three
branches largely operate independently of each other and there
is little communication between them.

Urban Underground Churches
--------------


5. (C) Fudan University Department of Philosophy Religious

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Research Division Professor Liu Ping (Protect) in a meeting on
July 29 described urban underground churches. Hailing from
rural Anhui, Liu grew up in a rural underground church and many
of his family members are leaders in the church. Liu himself is
a leader of an underground church in Shanghai. He recently
returned from a secret meeting of leaders of underground
churches from Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Wuhan, and Nanjing.
Participants in the meeting reported that there has been an
increase of governmental scrutiny and pressure because of the
Olympics. Some members were told not to hold large meetings
during this time period, said Liu. Most members of the
underground church know what the government's redlines are. If
church events get too big and people become too open about their
religion then they will be visited by local security services.


6. (C) According to Liu, urban underground church members tend
to be educated white collar workers in their 30's and 40's. He
said it is impossible to calculate how many people are members
of these types of churches. In some cities like Beijing, one
church can have several hundred members, while in other cities
the number is much less. His church in Shanghai has about 300
people. Like East China Normal University Professor Liu
Zhongyu, Liu Ping said that urban underground churches are
dominated by students and professors, many of whom have traveled
to the West and joined Protestant churches during their studies.
Fudan University Center for American Studies Professor Xu
Yihua, a well-known expert on Protestantism, had a similar view.
He said that 2.7 percent of students at Fudan University are
Christian and that it was not uncommon to see students praying
in the university's cafeterias.


7. (C) Liu Ping said that the biggest challenge for urban
underground churches is to find meeting places. Some local
governments refuse to allow these churches to rent space. The
CCC/TSPM controls meeting places for Protestants and will not
allow underground churches to use their space. Some underground
churches have tried to register, but these applications have
been denied because the churches refuse to come under the
control of the CCC/TSPM. Calling the CCC/TSPM a governmental
organization and a "fake church", Liu said that underground
churches do not want to be controlled by the CCC/TSPM. Joining
the CCC/TSPM imposes too many limitations on churches. The
churches have to use CCC/TSPM pastors and also accept the
CCC/TSPM's theological views. In addition, these churches also
have to supply the government with lots of sensitive information
such as the names of parishioners and sources of funding in
order to register.


8. (C) Liu Ping said that the situation is very different in
Zhejiang Province. There is a strong division between church
and state and there is no tension with the local government. In
Zhejiang, there are independent churches within the CCC/TSPM
that do not need to use CCC/TSPM preachers and have their own
sources of funding.


9. (C) According to Liu Ping, urban underground churches have
extensive ties to churches in the United States. Many church
leaders receive training from U.S. churches. U.S. churches also
provide financial and material support as well as exchange
opportunities. Although the growth of urban underground
churches would not have been possible without support from
abroad, relations with U.S. churches have also had a negative
affect on local churches. First, establishing relations with a
U.S. church leads to increased governmental scrutiny and
harassment. Second, as relations with U.S. churches deepen,
local underground churches are beginning to divide themselves
into different denominations. Chinese Protestant churches
traditionally have not divided into different denominations.
But, more and more Chinese churches are trying to mirror their
U.S. partners and now see themselves as belonging to different
denominations.

Rural Underground Churches: In a World of Their Own
-------------- --------------


10. (C) Contacts described rural underground churches as being
more pious and very secretive. Few contacts had strong
connections to these churches. Fudan University Professor Liu
Ping noted that some migrant workers in Shanghai have started
their own churches. Like the churches in the countryside, these
migrant churches refuse to let people who are not from the same
background into the church. To participate in these churches
one needs to come from the same town and speak the same dialect

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as other parishioners. East China Normal University Professor
Liu Zhongyu had a similar view and noted that rural underground
churches would likely not allow someone from an urban
underground church to preach at their church.


11. (C) Professor Liu Zhongyu said that it is difficult for the
CCC/TSPM to control underground rural churches. While some
churches allow local CCC/TSPM officials to attend their services
and have a more cooperative relationship, most rural church
members believe there is no need for them to communicate with
the CCC/TSPM. They do not need to use CCC/TSPM meeting sites
and often hold services in crude buildings such as barns or
warehouses. Underground rural church members also believe that
CCC/TSPM theology and practices do not fit their beliefs. Many
rural churches' theology and practices can be traced back to
Western missionaries. Rural churches also do not have much
contact with Western churches.

CCC/TSPM: Leadership Crisis?
--------------


12. (C) Contacts did not have a high regard for the new CCC
President Gao Feng. The 47-year old Gao replaced former CCC
President Cao Shengjie in the summer of 2007. Fudan University
Professor Liu Peng said that Gao is not as conservative as Cao
but he still is not very open and tends to listen to the Central
Government. Fudan University Center for American Studies
Professor Xu said Gao is not as qualified nor as capable as Cao.
The new CCC/TSPM leaders do not have the same level of
intellect or political influence as past leaders. East China
Normal University Professor Liu Zhongyu had a similar view. He
added, however, that it would be very difficult for modern
CCC/TSPM leaders to attain the same level of expertise as Cao.
He worked with Cao for a number of years at a research institute
that specialized in religion. Cao has a deep understanding of
theological issues that was acquired after years of intensive
research.


13. (C) Liu Zhongyu agreed that the current generation of
CCC/TSPM leaders are not of the same quality as past generations
of leaders. He said this was due in part to societal reasons.
Cao's generation was educated before the Cultural Revolution.
They came from comparatively wealthy families and received a
good education. The current crop of leaders received their
education after the Cultural Revolution, when many seminaries
were closed. Even after the seminaries were reopened in the
early 1980s there were no teachers around to work at them and
only basic classes were taught. In addition, those who entered
the seminary tended to be from poorer families in the
countryside. Most only had a high school education and some
even only had a junior high education.


14. (C) Liu Zhongyu said that the other major reason why the
quality of CCC/TSPM leaders has declined is connected to the
leaders themselves. For the past ten years, he has taught
classes to CCC/TSPM cadre and also to Buddhist leaders. He
noticed that a certain sector of these groups tend to stop
studying once they become leaders. They act more like
government bureaucrats than religious leaders. He also faults
them for not being as pious as they should be. Many just parrot
what is said by the government. This affects their credibility
with their parishioners. There is no need for pastors to oppose
the government, but pastors also do not need to mindlessly
repeat what the government says.

Impossible to Control
--------------


15. (C) According to the academics, the CCC/TSPM is largely
ineffective in trying to control the underground churches. East
China Normal University Professor Liu explained that in addition
to trying to control meeting sites (see paras 7 and 11),the
CCC/TSPM has been trying to control who receives training as a
pastor. Urban underground churches are able to bypass the
CCC/TSPM and get training materials from U.S. Churches. Some
churches are also able to send their pastors to the United
States for training. Rural underground church leaders do not
appear to need training to attract followers. Many rural
leaders are self taught. Fudan University CAS Professor Xu
added that it is difficult for local governments to control
churches because of their limited local government resources.
There are comparatively few Religious Affairs Bureau (RAB)
officials. It is impossible for these officials to tightly

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control every church and temple in their district. In addition,
some churches have wealthy parishioners and do not require any
financial assistance from the RAB. Churches with wealthy
parishioners also tend to have good connections to the local
government and, therefore, do not need to rely on the RAB or
CCC/TSPM.

A Slowdown in the Future
--------------


16. (C) Contacts had different predictions for the future of
Protestantism in China. Li Feng, East China University of
Political Science and Law Associate Professor, in a meeting on
August 1 said that the growth of Protestantism will slow down as
China's infatuation with all things Western fades. He added
that Chinese have a different attitude towards religion from
Westerners. They see it like a "supermarket" and take what they
need from different religions without committing fully to any
one.

The Rise of The Lay Volunteers
--------------


17. (C) East China Normal University Professor Liu Zhongyu
thought that the CCC/TSPM will pay more attention to the needs
of its parishioners. This is due in part to the Chinese Central
Government's emphasis on the people. The CCC/TSPM takes its
cues from the Central Government and will likely adopt more
populist policies. Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences
Institute of Religious Studies Association Associate Research
Professor Yan Kejia in a meeting on July 18 had a similar
prediction. He believes that the underground and official
Protestant churches will pay more attention to their
parishioners largely because of the increased in influence of
lay volunteers. The number of pastors is relatively small and
lay volunteers are beginning to take on tasks that used to be
done by the clergy. In some places such as Zhejiang, pastors
are reliant on wealthy parishioners for financial support and,
therefore, must cater to these parishioners.

Comment
--------------


18. (C) The academics we met with had different relations with
the Central Government. Fudan University Professor Liu Ping is
the most critical and furthest away from the government. Fudan
Center for American Studies Professor Edward Xu and Shanghai
Academy of Social Sciences Researcher Yan Kejia both maintain
close ties to the Central Government and are often called upon
by the Central Government and local governments to carry out
studies on religion. Both Yan and Xu emphasized in their
meetings with Poloffs that the government is becoming more open
about religion and pressed Poloffs on what the Chinese
Government can do to improve its standing in the U.S. Religious
Freedom Report. Poloffs urged that the government be more
transparent about its religious policies and also allow
underground Protestants the freedom to meet openly. East China
Normal University Professor Liu is somewhat of a maverick. He
carries out research for the Central Government and appears to
have good access to official religious organizations. However,
he does not shy away from criticizing the government nor in
taking provocative stances in the media (see reftel A).
SCHUCHAT