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CHINA
A MULTI-FAITH LOOK INTO institutions and the Carter Center, included high-level SARA officials. Dr. Mir explains that one reason for this bilateral multi-faith initiative’s success has been the demand of both countries’ Christian communities to allow free religious activities in China and their lobbying of Congress and the administration, along with open access for missionaries. Significant progress has been made in this regard, for China wants to be perceived as a politically stable and socially harmonious society that can provide a suitable environment for foreign investment. Since the full normaliza-
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Beijing is more even-handed with the country’s recognized religious groups than any other country, including those in the West that boast of separation of religion and state.” tion of American-Chinese diplomatic relations in 1979, China has made huge strides in its social, cultural, and economic spheres in a relatively short time. A gradual liberalization with regard to religious institutions has occurred and a significant amount of religious freedom is allowed, albeit with some government oversight. In addition, President Hu Jintao has called for religion to play a positive role in society. These incremental steps have led to what seems to be a positive religious environment. For millennia, Confucian principles have provided the country’s basic moral and ethical guidelines. Initially rejected by
communism, they again found acceptance as Beijing entered upon an official policy of accommodation and moderation. Realistically speaking, however, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism have adapted, and thus have essentially been “tamed” by Chinese culture. Neither Islam nor Christianity has been able to dislodge these almost primordial religious philosophies. But decades of communism have weakened their grip, and the resulting postMarxist disjunction between them and the people may explain the accelerated rate of conversion to Christianity and Islam. In the belief that Muslim Americans can assist their Chinese co-religionists improve their living and health conditions and explain Islam’s moral, ethical, and spiritual beliefs to their fellow Chinese, Dr. Mir calls for a closer relationship between the two communities. Considering China’s religious landscape and unique religion-state relationship, however, such an undertaking will need to secure the blessings of such governmental institutions as SARA. Ironically, and for good reasons, Dr. Mir states that the Communist Party is showing interest in a unified multi-faith exchange not only within China, but also across the Pacific. Senior SARA officials, including Wang Zuan (cabinet minister, SARA) and Wei Guo (director, SARA Beijing), have broadly hinted that leaders of the China Islamic Association would be welcome to attend the upcoming ISNA convention in Chicago. This will offer Muslim Americans an unprecedented opportunity to interact with Muslim Chinese. The delegation visited institutions and met with leaders of the five organized religions and government officials, including top-level officials of SARA, in Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. In Bei-
jing, they were hosted by Chen Guangyuan (president, China Islamic Association) and his associates at their national headquarters. They toured its small but elegant museum of historical artifacts chronicling 1,350 years of Islam’s presence in China, participated in an interfaith forum at its beautiful office, and fully enjoyed a Chinese-style Islamic banquet. Hand-written manuscripts of the Qur’an and vases with Islamic calligraphy dating back to the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) are well-preserved in the museum. This display of religious relics, he says, serves to anchor, connect, and intertwine Islam into China’s indigenous culture and national history. They remind the Chinese national psyche that Islam, like the country’s other popular religions and philosophies, is a part of it. Chinese officials and religious leaders seemed to feel compelled to mention this historical reality at every meeting. This is a distinctive advantage Muslims have in the country, he adds. China, he opines, is a “transformed nation, proud of its history, conscious of its place in the contemporary world and cautiously optimistic about its destiny. With that view of itself, it wants to do everything it can not to jeopardize the good thing it has going for it. By giving organized religions their proper place and allowing them to play a role in fostering a harmonious environment, the ruling Communist Party is pursuing an ambitious economic policy to build a new stable, powerful, and prosperous China. There exists a unique relationship between the ruling Communist Party and the faith communities, one based on symbiosis. The ruling party rules without any challenge to its authority, while religious groups preach and practice with relative freedom. Religious leaders are accomJULY/AUGUST 2010 ISLAMIC HORIZONS 25