Religious Texts Allowed at Beijing Olympics, but for Personal Use Only

By Anita Chang, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BEIJING – Outraged Beijing Olympic organizers sought to refute allegations of religious intolerance Thursday, saying Bibles and other religious items for personal use are welcome at next year’s Beijing Olympics.

That latitude, however, does not extend to the Falun Gong spiritual movement, banned eight years ago as an “evil cult” and persecuted mercilessly ever since.

Recent reports by a religious news agency and European media that Bibles would be banned at the Olympics touched off an outcry that prompted a U.S. senator to call the Chinese ambassador for an explanation and a Christian athletes group to protest the “deep violation.”

Angry Beijing organizers flatly denied the reports, while the Foreign Ministry said they were likely the work of people who wanted to sabotage Beijing’s hosting of the Games.

“There is no such thing. This kind of report is an intentional distortion of truth,” said Li Zhanjun, director of the Beijing Olympics media centre. Li said texts and items from major religious groups that are brought for personal use by athletes and visitors are permitted.

A notice on the official Beijing Olympics website explaining entry procedures into the country said “each traveller is recommended to take no more than one Bible into China.”

Religious services – Christian, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu and Buddhist – will be available to athletes in the Olympic Village next summer, Li said.

However, those policies do not apply to Falun Gong, reasserting China’s determination to marginalize, persecute and eradicate the spiritual movement.

Falun Gong was banned after members staged a massive peaceful protest in 1998 outside government headquarters to demand official recognition. The U.S. State Department says practitioners in China face arrest, detention and possible torture, while members overseas maintain a vigorous campaign of protest against China’s government.

“We don’t recognize it because it’s a cult. So Falun Gong texts, Falun Gong activities in China are forbidden,” Li of the Olympics media centre said. “Foreigners who come to China must respect and abide by the laws of China.”

China’s leadership wants to use the Games to project a positive image of the country. Olympics preparations such as venue construction have hummed along at a record pace and Beijing is so eager to host a flawless event that it had enacted campaigns to stomp out bad English, spitting, littering and cutting in line.

Yet preparations have also been hampered by criticism of China’s human rights violations, Beijing’s choking smog, and the regime’s willingness to overlook Sudan’s backing for militias accused of genocide in return for gas and oil.

The Games are also casting a sometimes harsh light on China’s policy on religion, which is heavily regulated by the officially atheistic ruling Communist party. Worship is allowed only in party-controlled churches, temples and mosques, while those gathering outside face harassment, arrest and terms in labour camps or prison.

The U.S. State Department said in a report earlier this year that Beijing continues to repress Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, Muslim Uighurs and the Falun Gong while expelling foreign missionaries.

Bibles are printed under government supervision and allowed to be sold only in approved churches, according to a document posted on the website of the State Administration for Religious Affairs.

Foreign visitors can bring religious texts for personal use, and are limited to three copies of each kind of text, said an official at the administration’s regulation department, who refused to give his name.

The reports in the Catholic News Agency and European media about the Bible ban – which said Bibles were on a list of “prohibited objects” in the Olympic Village – prompted U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, to telephone the Chinese ambassador for an explanation.

“If true, it would be outrageous act of censorship that would be rejected and condemned by the entire international community and people of all religions,” the senator said in a statement. “There is no value needed more in the world at this critical time in human history than religious tolerance.”

The U.S.-based 4 Winds Christian Athletics group said a ban would be a “deep violation of the Christian athletes that we represent.”

“Our organization represents athletes who love Christ and will never give up their daily Bible readings during the Olympics,” it said in an e-mail statement.

In an e-mailed statement, the IOC said news articles alleging a Bible ban stemmed from a misunderstanding at an October briefing in Beijing during which items banned from import into China was discussed.

“It is clear that athletes coming to the Games are able to bring with them religious items for personal use, as in previous Games, to the Olympic venues,” the statement said.

Speaking at a regularly scheduled news conference, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said the reports pointed to attempts to undermine China’s Olympic glory.

“There are some people out there,” Liu said, “who do not want to see China hold a successful Games.”