China’s record on human rights, including religious freedom, has been widely criticized. Despite this, the number of religious adherents has steadily grown, presenting both challenges and opportunities for the Chinese government. While on the one hand, the increasing religious population can potentially destabilize the political order. On the other, it offers a means to influence a substantial portion of the populace in support of the Socialist system and the Communist Party. This presentation will examine the government’s religious policy through an analysis of recent state and Party documents. It will show that the government´s strategy has not changed much since the 1982 Party directive, Document 19, but has intensified under the current leadership, which actively engages in the bureaucratization of religion in China.

Martin Lavička is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Asian Studies at Palacký University Olomouc, teaching modern Chinese history, Taiwan history, and Chinese politics. His research focuses on the socio-legal aspects of China’s ethnic policies, religious freedoms, and the rule of law. He is a visiting research fellow at the Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies at Lund University, working on a two-year project on the rule of law in China.