PRC: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM A MIXED PICTURE IN YANBIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SHENYANG 000013 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR DRL, EAP/CM, EAP/K E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/24/2018 TAGS: KIRF PHUM PGOV PINR SOCI PREF KN KS CH SUBJECT: PRC: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM A MIXED PICTURE IN YANBIAN KOREAN PREFECTURE Classified By: CONSUL GENERAL STEPHEN B. WICKMAN. REASONS: 1.4(b)/(d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Religious freedom is enjoying modest improvement in a key ethnic minority enclave of Jilin Province, near the PRC-DPRK border. Christianity is making inroads among local Chinese, migrant workers, and North Korean border-crossers. "House churches," many with links to official churches, are popular, and Religious Affairs Bureau (RAB) officials are in some cases easing their interference with some officially-registered congregations. Complaints persist, however, about RAB registration procedures, official intimidation of house churches and their clergy, and restrictions on foreigners proselytizing to Chinese nationals. Falun Gong adherents remain active in Yanbian, but with decreased visibility compared to years past. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) This is the first in a series of cables on trends in religious freedom in northeast China. A case study, it draws on site visits throughout Jilin Province's Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture and interviews there with official/unofficial religious leaders, adherents, and Religious Affairs Bureau (RAB) officials over the course of the past fifteen months. CHRISTIANITY MAKING INROADS, OFFICIALLY AND UNOFFICIALLY -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) Christianity is a growth industry in Yanbian and has made considerable inroads in recent years, both among Han Chinese and the many ethnic Koreans that populate the economically-struggling prefecture, whose fortunes are tied as much to Seoul as Beijing. The heart of the increasingly vibrant religious scene is Yanji, Yanbian's administrative seat, where the official Catholic Church counts over 2000 members (eighty percent ethnic Korean, the remainder Han), roughly 500 of whom attend services on a regular basis, according to Father LIAN Changyuan (STRICTLY PROTECT). Father Lian pointed to steady growth in his congregation, especially among the younger generations. Yanji also counts 28 officially registered Protestant congregations, up from 21 in 2001, according to Pastor JIN (STRICTLY PROTECT),who runs the small, 100-person-strong, predominantly ethnic Korean, Ping'an Church, just outside of town. Similar trends prevail even in Yanbian's more remote parts, officials say. In Helong, a ninety-minute drive south of Yanji, two percent of the city's 230,000 residents are registered believers (mostly Protestant),and the numbers are growing every year, according to REN Longquan, Director of the city's RAB. Unofficial estimates put the actual number of believers in Helong and similarly- sized Yanbian cities far higher. ¶4. (C) Christianity's inroads go beyond Yanbian's permanent residents. An elder at the Chaoyang Church, one of only two predominantly Han Chinese congregations in Yanji, told Poloff of a new phenomenon at her congregation, situated in one of the city's poorest sections: growing numbers of migrant workers (mostly from Shandong, Anhui and Henan) turning toward Christianity against the backdrop of their hardscrabble existences. Another Yanji congregation, the Korea Church, caters solely to South Korean expats--mostly students, businessmen and long-term residents--and counts roughly 200 congregants, according to staff there. Some North Korean border-crossers are also becoming new coverts, steered toward Christianity by some of the religiously- minded Chinese and/or foreigners who discreetly offer them aid in various parts of Yanbian. ¶5. (C) Numerous contacts, both Catholic and Protestant, described large numbers of popular, unofficial Protestant, "house churches" throughout Yanbian, though none could offer reliable estimates. Pastor Jin of the Ping'an Church, who himself used to head an underground, house church until he registered his congregation in 2001, regularly keeps in touch with many unofficial churches in Yanji and surrounding parts of Yanbian. A staffer at Yanji's Chaoyang Church described close, informal links between official churches (such as hers) and networks of house churches--some as small as a single family, others larger--throughout town, a point highlighted by a number of other local Chinese, as well as knowledgeable longtime American expats in Yanji. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IMPROVING IN SOME CASES... -------------- ¶6. (C) On balance, our Yanbian contacts spoke of growing improvements in religious freedom, despite ongoing SHENYANG 00000013 002 OF 003 frustrations. Pastor Jin, the frank ethnic Korean who heads the Ping'an Church, for instance, voiced no major complaints about government interference with his church of late. He pointed out how far policy had come since the late 1980s and declared himself optimistic about the long- term trajectory of religion freedom in the PRC, difficulties notwithstanding. Like others Poloff encountered, Jin felt that "normalizing" his unofficial church in 2001 brought with it important benefits (e.g., an end to the "psychological burden" of fearing a clampdown on his illegal church, a sense of legitimacy, and the ability to openly erect a cross) which he perceived as outweighing the costs of official RAB supervision. ¶7. (C) Jin also pointed to a subtle easing of Yanbian RAB regulations, which he pinpointed to late 2005. For many years, he explained, RAB officials typically insisted on inspecting his operation four or five times per year: once at year-end to scrutinize the church's financial "books"; once for a pre-Christmas safety inspection; once for Chinese New Year; and twice for fire-safety checks. But starting in December 2005, RAB officials suddenly stopped requiring the end-of-year meeting to scrutinize his "books." When Jin inquired whether policy had changed, he said RAB officials only smiled coyly in response, implicitly acknowledging the shift. ¶8. (C) Clergy members generally reported maintaining decent relations with RAB officials. Father Lian of Yanji's Catholic Church described relatively smooth working relations with Yanbian RAB officials; he still maintains a friendship of sorts with RAB contacts from the Helong/Longjing area of Yanbian where he previously worked for many years. Father Lian, Pastor Jin and others all noted, unsolicited, RAB officials gradually acquiring a better substantive understanding of the religions they supervise. All agreed this was a welcome development and in stark contrast to the wholly ignorant religious-affairs officials of the 1980s. Clergy members reported that they openly maintain relationships with American and South Korean religious groups--in some cases periodically traveling abroad to interact with them--without interference from RAB officials. Some RAB officials Poloff encountered, like Director Ren in Helong, themselves maintain ties with overseas religious groups, occasionally traveling to the U.S. and the ROK at their invitation. ...THOUGH PROBLEMS PERSIST -------------- ¶9. (C) Improvements notwithstanding, familiar frustrations from the past remain. Some contacts complained that RAB registration requirements are still too "complicated." In the Yanji area, a number of sources reported that despite the apparent benign neglect of some known house churches, the authorities periodically clamp down on other unregistered, house churches. In Helong, RAB Director Ren painted a real mixed picture. On the one hand, he claimed his office tolerates "small groups" gathering for Bible study and worship, provided they do not erect crosses or use donation boxes. On the other hand, he emphasized that part of his remit fundamentally involves "combating illegal Protestant churches," many of which he said enter Yanbian from South Korea because of their "common language" with the people of Yanbian. In Tumen, a border locality an hour's drive northeast of Yanji, two knowledgeable long- term expats having close contacts in the small religious community there told Poloff that RAB and security officials keep a close watch on the clergy--a departure from the comparatively more permissive environment of Yanji. ¶10. (C) Other expats in Yanbian noted continuing restrictions on proselytizing. Yanji's foreigner-only Korea Church, for one, reported strict prohibitions on ministering to Chinese, including ethnic Korean Chinese. And while staff there said they enjoyed a largely hands-off policy from the RAB (who conduct one annual, inspection visit),they explained that officials still prohibit them from erecting a cross on the church's edifice (an act they said the authorities would construe as "advertising"). They additionally lamented that the airport authorities sometimes confiscate large numbers of bibles that the congregants attempt to hand-carry from South Korea, limiting each passenger to one bible. ¶11. (C) Official restrictions on proselytizing and procuring foreign bibles, however, proved relatively easy to overcome in practice, many said. Pastor Jin noted that visiting South Koreans (mostly church groups) can SHENYANG 00000013 003 OF 003 periodically participate in his services and, provided they do not preach, do so without incurring problems from the RAB. Other ethnic Korean Chinese clergy members reported that visiting South Korean groups regularly delivered Korean-language bibles to them without difficulty. Yanji itself hosts an entire university--the Yanbian University of Science and Technology (YUST)--managed and staffed by evangelical Christians, primarily from the United States, South Korea and Europe, that seek to convert some of their Chinese students. YUST's missionary activity, quietly tolerated by Yanbian authorities, is not limited to Chinese alone. School administrators concede they seek to convert some of the North Korean border-crossers who occasionally come to the institution for assistance. FALUN GONG STILL ACTIVE IN YANBIAN -------------- ¶12. (C) Falun Gong adherents continue their activities in Yanbian, but a range of contacts reported decreased visibility compared to years past. The numbers of adherents are thought to be small, though no one Poloff encountered offered even a best guess. Officials like Helong RAB Director Ren unsurprisingly offered the standard official critique of the Falun Gong, noting that he and his RAB counterparts elsewhere in Yanbian actively oppose the group and its activities. Pastor Jin noted that while Falun Gong adherents operated in the Yanji area, most believers were Han Chinese--not ethnic Korean--and that mainstream Protestant and Catholic groups have little contact with Falun Gong adherents. Other mainstream religious believers said that they also steer clear of South Korean sects like the Unification Church, as well as some of the homegrown Protestant-offshoot groups that operate throughout northeast China. WICKMAN