Religion still poison in China
DHARAMSHALA, December 20: Reminiscent of the Mao era, a senior Chinese Communist Party member has revived the hard line rhetoric against religion by reaffirming that the party’s “principled stance regarding forbidding members from believing in religion has not changed one iota."

The party leader who went on to blame “hostile forces home and abroad” of using religion for “separatist activities” in ethnic groups was none other than China’s point man for Tibet, Zhu Weiqun.

The executive vice minister of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, who has had nine rounds of meetings with envoys of the Dalai Lama, stressed that party members in Xinjiang and Tibet should take a “clear-cut stand” on not believing in religion.

In an article published in Qiushi (Seeking Truth), the biweekly official journal of the CPC Central Committee, Zhu warned that the party would suffer "pernicious" consequences if members were allowed to believe in religion.

"If the Party lifts the ban (on religion) as some people suggest, it can hardly see the promised benefits and will instead suffer obvious pernicious consequences," Zhu said in the article.

Slamming the growing clamour among CPC members of participating in religious activities, Zhu noted that the increasing religious practice among party members was threatening the party’s unity and national leadership.

“Some people, even within the Party, have said the ban of CPC members believing in religion should be lifted. They listed the ‘reasons and benefits’ for CPC members to believe in religion, and even argue the ban was inconsistent with the Constitution,” Zhu said.

Zhu’s stern remarks to the party's 80 million members come at a time when both Buddhism, a religion which has strong historic roots in China and Christianity are staging a widespread come back in China.

The party remains deeply suspicious of religious practice and strictly controls the functioning of monasteries, churches, and, mosques, especially in Tibet and Xinjiang.

Since March this year, thirteen Tibetans in Tibet including monks and nun have set themselves on fire calling for freedom in Tibet and the return of their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama from exile.