Ye Xiaowen
Encyclopedia
Ye Xiaowen is a Chinese politician
who held various top posts relating to state regulation of religion
from 1995 to 2009.
Born in 1950 in Ningxiang County in Hunan
, Ye became one of the first students of sociology
at the Guizhou Academy of Social Sciences after a ban before China's reform and opening up. Ye was selected for national politics when he wrote an article based on his time in the Communist Youth League, describing why many Chinese youth were choosing religion, and advocating for a more moderate religious policy. In 1995, he became the director of the Bureau of Religious Affairs under the State Council
. There, he worked to prevent religious unrest, select the 11th Panchen Lama
, and ban the controversial Falun Gong group.
In 1998, the Bureau of Religious Affairs was renamed the State Administration for Religious Affairs
, while Ye Xiaowen remained its director. He acknowledged presiding over a large growth in Christianity in China
, and changed policy to say that religion has a place in society, although he persecuted groups that he thought brought foreign control to Chinese churches, like the Roman Catholic Church
. In 2007 he declared State Religious Affairs Bureau Order No. 5
, which attempted to reduce the influence of the 14th Dalai Lama
and other foreign groups on the reincarnation
s in Tibet
. All the while, he traveled often to the United States to defend his religious policy against criticism. Ye was relieved of his religious post in September 2009 to direct the Central Institute of Socialism.
, although he grew up in Guizhou
. He joined the Communist Party of China
(CPC) in 1975. Ye was one of the few Chinese students to study sociology
after the discipline was suppressed for 20 years, becoming vice director of the Guizhou Academy of Social Sciences. In 1985, after Hu Jintao
was promoted to Party chief
of Guizhou, he was made Secretary of the Guizhou Communist Youth League. As part of his mandate in 1992, he traveled to Northwest China to find out why some young people were religious, and to try to convert them to the Youth League instead. The reflective article he wrote earned him the attention of religious and Communist Party leaders in China.
The article criticized the Communist Party leadership as regarding religion as "backward and fatuous", and for simply hoping that young people would become atheists. It acknowledged that religion "has mass appeal and is going to be around for a long time", and that it is "compatible with a socialist society". He condemned the antireligious excesses of the Cultural Revolution
, and recommended that China loosen its grip on religion as part of the reform and opening up. On the other hand, Ye vindicates the CPC's suspicions about foreign missionaries in Europe's colonial past with China, and religion's role in overthrowing Communist state
s in the Revolutions of 1989
. Therefore, he argues, the state must stress "self-governance, self-support, and self-sufficiency" in Chinese religious organizations. This greatly influenced Chinese Paramount leader
Jiang Zemin
's reformist attitudes on religion, which were attacked on both the CPC right
and left
for being too restrictive or not restrictive enough. Ye later reflected that he had to quote Marx on religion
in order for the CPC members to listen to his ideas.
. One of his first tasks was to make sure that the 1995 CCTV New Year's Gala
contained nothing offensive to religious people. When he saw that 100 children were set to dance with lanterns shaped as pigs' heads (pigs are ritually unclean in Islam
), and that it was too late to change the routine, he ordered China Central Television
to take only long shot
s to obscure recognition. That same year, Ye presided over the enthronement of Gyaincain Norbu, the controversial government choice for the 11th Panchen Lama
of Tibetan Buddhism
.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China
banned the controversial Falun Gong
belief system in July 1995. Ye gave a press conference three months later, accusing Falun Gong of being a doomsday cult
, antiscientific
, anti-medicine, of harassing people en masse, and of tax evasion
. He insisted that the government had to act against Falun Gong on behalf of science, civilization, and human rights, although he promised that the police would not persecute people who practised alone in their homes. Slavoj Žižek
argues that Ye and the CPC banned Falun Gong not for their general antipathy towards religion, but for Falun Gong's insistence on "independence from state control", a commonality with Tibetan Buddhism
.
in 1998, and Ye remained its director. Here he worked to implement the doctrine of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement
, or Chinese churches' independence from foreign influence. In practice, this meant the attempted eradication of Chinese Catholicism
loyal to Rome
(which he considered "colonial") and not to the official Catholic Church in China
. This crackdown was received poorly by international audiences, so he held a press conference in Los Angeles
in 2003. He was received with hostility, but was said to have answered questions "like a tire salesman". When he was asked how he, as an atheist, could regulate religion in China, he replied, "In China, the director of sports does not play sports; the director of tobacco does not smoke; and the director of religious affairs does not believe in any religion".
In the same week in 2006 of the World Buddhist Forum, Ye Xiaowen "rejected decades of state ambivalence toward religion" by telling Xinhua News Agency
that religion in general, and Buddhism
in particular, has a "unique role in promoting a harmonious society
", acknowledging the explosive growth of religion, especially of Christianity
, following China's economic reforms. He reported that China had 130 million Christians that year, and scholars suggest that he promoted Buddhism as a counterbalance. In 2007, Ye announced State Religious Affairs Bureau Order No. 5
, a regulation to take force in September about the reincarnation of living Buddhas in the Tibet Autonomous Region
. It increased vetting of temples that handle reincarnation
s and affirms that reincarnations done without state approval were illegal. His administration then affirmed that the government would only intervene in religious issues "related to national and societal interests". Some interpreted this order as a renewed assertion of power to choose the next Dalai Lama
. The current 14th Dalai Lama
responded in an interview with a Japanese newspaper, threatening to break with tradition and choose his own successor while he was still living.
in February, Ye Xiaowen traveled to the United States to address Bush administration concerns about Chinese religious policy. He met with Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky
, ambassador for religious freedom John Hanford
, and retired Archbishop of Washington
Theodore McCarrick. He said that China respects religious belief, criticized the U.S. State Department
's last annual report on religious freedom, and explained the muted response over the Dalai Lama's Congressional Gold Medal
. There, he expressed hope for reconciliation with the Vatican
, with whom the People's Republic does not currently have ties because it recognizes the rival Republic of China
.
After the 2008 Tibetan unrest
, Ye published an opinion piece in a December edition of China Daily
. Entitled, "Shangri-La has changed and Tibetans know it", he criticized those who thought themselves "'experts' [about Tibet] after reading a mere handful of texts". Quoting from Lost Horizon, the work that introduced the concept of Shangri-La
, he said that Tibet would only become "an everlasting peaceful land" if separatist agitation were quashed and all ethnic groups in Tibet developed equally.
-affiliated Asia News was especially critical of Ye's legacy, calling him "a perfect representative of the idea that religions should be subservient to the power and supremacy of the Party".
Politics of the People's Republic of China
The politics of the People's Republic of China take place in a framework of a single-party socialist republic. The leadership of the Communist Party is stated in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China...
who held various top posts relating to state regulation of religion
Religion in China
Religion in China has been characterized by pluralism since the beginning of Chinese history. The Chinese religions are family-oriented and do not demand the exclusive adherence of members. Some scholars doubt the use of the term "religion" in reference to Buddhism and Taoism, and suggest "cultural...
from 1995 to 2009.
Born in 1950 in Ningxiang County in Hunan
Hunan
' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...
, Ye became one of the first students of sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
at the Guizhou Academy of Social Sciences after a ban before China's reform and opening up. Ye was selected for national politics when he wrote an article based on his time in the Communist Youth League, describing why many Chinese youth were choosing religion, and advocating for a more moderate religious policy. In 1995, he became the director of the Bureau of Religious Affairs under the State Council
State Council of the People's Republic of China
The State Council of the People's Republic of China , which is largely synonymous with the Central People's Government after 1954, is the chief administrative authority of the People's Republic of China. It is chaired by the Premier and includes the heads of each governmental department and agency...
. There, he worked to prevent religious unrest, select the 11th Panchen Lama
11th Panchen Lama
The 11th Panchen Lama controversy is a dispute about the current legitimate holder of the Panchen Lama title, a political and religious leadership position in Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism. After the death of the 10th Panchen Lama, a dispute between the Chinese leadership and the exiled 14th Dalai...
, and ban the controversial Falun Gong group.
In 1998, the Bureau of Religious Affairs was renamed the State Administration for Religious Affairs
State Administration for Religious Affairs
The State Administration for Religious Affairs , abbreviated SARA , is a functioning department under the State Council which oversees religious affairs and issues for the People's Republic of China...
, while Ye Xiaowen remained its director. He acknowledged presiding over a large growth in Christianity in China
Christianity in China
Christianity in China is a growing minority religion that comprises Protestants , Catholics , and a small number of Orthodox Christians. Although its lineage in China is not as ancient as the institutional religions of Taoism and Mahayana Buddhism, and the social system and ideology of...
, and changed policy to say that religion has a place in society, although he persecuted groups that he thought brought foreign control to Chinese churches, like the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. In 2007 he declared State Religious Affairs Bureau Order No. 5
State Religious Affairs Bureau Order No. 5
State Religious Affairs Bureau Order No. 5 is an order from the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the People's Republic of China's agency charged with keeping religion under state control. Order No...
, which attempted to reduce the influence of the 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama is the 14th and current Dalai Lama. Dalai Lamas are the most influential figures in the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, although the 14th has consolidated control over the other lineages in recent years...
and other foreign groups on the reincarnation
Reincarnation
Reincarnation best describes the concept where the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, is believed to return to live in a new human body, or, in some traditions, either as a human being, animal or plant...
s in Tibet
Tibet Autonomous Region
The Tibet Autonomous Region , Tibet or Xizang for short, also called the Xizang Autonomous Region is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China , created in 1965....
. All the while, he traveled often to the United States to defend his religious policy against criticism. Ye was relieved of his religious post in September 2009 to direct the Central Institute of Socialism.
Early life and career
Ye Xiaowen was born in 1950 to a poor teachers' family in Ningxiang County, HenanHenan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...
, although he grew up in Guizhou
Guizhou
' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.- History :...
. He joined the Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
(CPC) in 1975. Ye was one of the few Chinese students to study sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
after the discipline was suppressed for 20 years, becoming vice director of the Guizhou Academy of Social Sciences. In 1985, after Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao is the current Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China. He has held the titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2002, President of the People's Republic of China since 2003, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2004, succeeding Jiang...
was promoted to Party chief
Party chief of the Communist Party of China
In the Politics of the People's Republic of China, a party chief , variously called a party boss, and officially termed the Communist Party Committee Secretary for a certain region, is the leader of the local Communist Party of China division, and in most cases, the de facto first-in-charge of its...
of Guizhou, he was made Secretary of the Guizhou Communist Youth League. As part of his mandate in 1992, he traveled to Northwest China to find out why some young people were religious, and to try to convert them to the Youth League instead. The reflective article he wrote earned him the attention of religious and Communist Party leaders in China.
The article criticized the Communist Party leadership as regarding religion as "backward and fatuous", and for simply hoping that young people would become atheists. It acknowledged that religion "has mass appeal and is going to be around for a long time", and that it is "compatible with a socialist society". He condemned the antireligious excesses of the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
, and recommended that China loosen its grip on religion as part of the reform and opening up. On the other hand, Ye vindicates the CPC's suspicions about foreign missionaries in Europe's colonial past with China, and religion's role in overthrowing Communist state
Communist state
A communist state is a state with a form of government characterized by single-party rule or dominant-party rule of a communist party and a professed allegiance to a Leninist or Marxist-Leninist communist ideology as the guiding principle of the state...
s in the Revolutions of 1989
Revolutions of 1989
The Revolutions of 1989 were the revolutions which overthrew the communist regimes in various Central and Eastern European countries.The events began in Poland in 1989, and continued in Hungary, East Germany, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and...
. Therefore, he argues, the state must stress "self-governance, self-support, and self-sufficiency" in Chinese religious organizations. This greatly influenced Chinese Paramount leader
Paramount leader
Paramount leader literally "the highest leader of the party and the state ", in modern Chinese political science, unofficially refers to the political leader of the People's Republic of China....
Jiang Zemin
Jiang Zemin
Jiang Zemin is a former Chinese politician, who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1989 to 2002, as President of the People's Republic of China from 1993 to 2003, and as Chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2005...
's reformist attitudes on religion, which were attacked on both the CPC right
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
and left
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
for being too restrictive or not restrictive enough. Ye later reflected that he had to quote Marx on religion
Opium of the People
"Religion is the opium of the people" is one of the most frequently paraphrased statements of Karl Marx. It was translated from the German original, "Die Religion .....
in order for the CPC members to listen to his ideas.
Bureau of Religious Affairs
In July 1995, Ye was appointed director of the Bureau of Religious Affairs under the State Council of the People's Republic of ChinaState Council of the People's Republic of China
The State Council of the People's Republic of China , which is largely synonymous with the Central People's Government after 1954, is the chief administrative authority of the People's Republic of China. It is chaired by the Premier and includes the heads of each governmental department and agency...
. One of his first tasks was to make sure that the 1995 CCTV New Year's Gala
CCTV New Year's Gala
The CCTV New Year's Gala is a Chinese New Year special produced by China Central Television. Broadcast on the eve of Chinese New Year on its flagship CCTV-1, satellite channels CCTV-4, CCTV-9, CCTV-E, CCTV-F, and CCTV-HD, the broadcast has a yearly viewership of over 700 million viewers, making it...
contained nothing offensive to religious people. When he saw that 100 children were set to dance with lanterns shaped as pigs' heads (pigs are ritually unclean in Islam
Islamic hygienical jurisprudence
Hygiene is a prominent topic in Islam. Islam has always placed a strong emphasis on personal hygiene. Other than the need to be ritually clean in time for the daily prayer through Wudu and Ghusl, there are a large number of other hygiene-related rules governing the lives of Muslims...
), and that it was too late to change the routine, he ordered China Central Television
China Central Television
China Central Television or Chinese Central Television, commonly abbreviated as CCTV, is the major state television broadcaster in mainland China. CCTV has a network of 19 channels broadcasting different programmes and is accessible to more than one billion viewers...
to take only long shot
Long shot
In photography, filmmaking and video production, a long shot typically shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surroundings...
s to obscure recognition. That same year, Ye presided over the enthronement of Gyaincain Norbu, the controversial government choice for the 11th Panchen Lama
11th Panchen Lama
The 11th Panchen Lama controversy is a dispute about the current legitimate holder of the Panchen Lama title, a political and religious leadership position in Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism. After the death of the 10th Panchen Lama, a dispute between the Chinese leadership and the exiled 14th Dalai...
of Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China
Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China
The Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China is a ministry under the jurisdiction of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, responsible for social and administrative affairs. It was founded in May 1978, and the current Minister is Li Xueju...
banned the controversial Falun Gong
Falun Gong
Falun Gong is a spiritual discipline first introduced in China in 1992 by its founder, Li Hongzhi, through public lectures. It combines the practice of meditation and slow-moving qigong exercises with the moral philosophy...
belief system in July 1995. Ye gave a press conference three months later, accusing Falun Gong of being a doomsday cult
Doomsday cult
Doomsday cult is an expression used to describe groups who believe in Apocalypticism and Millenarianism, and can refer both to groups that prophesy catastrophe and destruction, and to those that attempt to bring it about...
, antiscientific
Antiscience
Antiscience is a position that rejects science and the scientific method. People holding antiscientific views are generally skeptical that science is an objective method, as it purports to be, or that it generates universal knowledge. They also contend that scientific reductionism in particular is...
, anti-medicine, of harassing people en masse, and of tax evasion
Tax evasion
Tax evasion is the general term for efforts by individuals, corporations, trusts and other entities to evade taxes by illegal means. Tax evasion usually entails taxpayers deliberately misrepresenting or concealing the true state of their affairs to the tax authorities to reduce their tax liability,...
. He insisted that the government had to act against Falun Gong on behalf of science, civilization, and human rights, although he promised that the police would not persecute people who practised alone in their homes. Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Žižek is a Slovenian philosopher, critical theorist working in the traditions of Hegelianism, Marxism and Lacanian psychoanalysis. He has made contributions to political theory, film theory, and theoretical psychoanalysis....
argues that Ye and the CPC banned Falun Gong not for their general antipathy towards religion, but for Falun Gong's insistence on "independence from state control", a commonality with Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
.
Three-Self and Order No. 5
The Bureau of Religious Affairs was renamed the State Administration for Religious AffairsState Administration for Religious Affairs
The State Administration for Religious Affairs , abbreviated SARA , is a functioning department under the State Council which oversees religious affairs and issues for the People's Republic of China...
in 1998, and Ye remained its director. Here he worked to implement the doctrine of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement
Three-Self Patriotic Movement
The Three-Self Patriotic Movement or TSPM is a state-controlled Protestant church in the People's Republic of China...
, or Chinese churches' independence from foreign influence. In practice, this meant the attempted eradication of Chinese Catholicism
Roman Catholicism in China
Roman Catholicism in China has a long and complicated history...
loyal to Rome
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
(which he considered "colonial") and not to the official Catholic Church in China
Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association
The Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association , abbreviated CPA, CPCA, or CCPA, is an association of people, established in 1957 by the People's Republic of China's Religious Affairs Bureau to exercise state supervision over mainland China's Catholics...
. This crackdown was received poorly by international audiences, so he held a press conference in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in 2003. He was received with hostility, but was said to have answered questions "like a tire salesman". When he was asked how he, as an atheist, could regulate religion in China, he replied, "In China, the director of sports does not play sports; the director of tobacco does not smoke; and the director of religious affairs does not believe in any religion".
In the same week in 2006 of the World Buddhist Forum, Ye Xiaowen "rejected decades of state ambivalence toward religion" by telling Xinhua News Agency
Xinhua News Agency
The Xinhua News Agency is the official press agency of the government of the People's Republic of China and the biggest center for collecting information and press conferences in the PRC. It is the largest news agency in the PRC, ahead of the China News Service...
that religion in general, and Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
in particular, has a "unique role in promoting a harmonious society
Harmonious society
The construction of a Harmonious Society is a socio-economic vision that is said to be the ultimate end result of Chinese leader Hu Jintao's signature ideology of the Scientific Development Concept. It serves as the ultimate goal for the ruling Communist Party of China along with Xiaokang society,...
", acknowledging the explosive growth of religion, especially of Christianity
Christianity in China
Christianity in China is a growing minority religion that comprises Protestants , Catholics , and a small number of Orthodox Christians. Although its lineage in China is not as ancient as the institutional religions of Taoism and Mahayana Buddhism, and the social system and ideology of...
, following China's economic reforms. He reported that China had 130 million Christians that year, and scholars suggest that he promoted Buddhism as a counterbalance. In 2007, Ye announced State Religious Affairs Bureau Order No. 5
State Religious Affairs Bureau Order No. 5
State Religious Affairs Bureau Order No. 5 is an order from the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the People's Republic of China's agency charged with keeping religion under state control. Order No...
, a regulation to take force in September about the reincarnation of living Buddhas in the Tibet Autonomous Region
Tibet Autonomous Region
The Tibet Autonomous Region , Tibet or Xizang for short, also called the Xizang Autonomous Region is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China , created in 1965....
. It increased vetting of temples that handle reincarnation
Reincarnation
Reincarnation best describes the concept where the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, is believed to return to live in a new human body, or, in some traditions, either as a human being, animal or plant...
s and affirms that reincarnations done without state approval were illegal. His administration then affirmed that the government would only intervene in religious issues "related to national and societal interests". Some interpreted this order as a renewed assertion of power to choose the next Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...
. The current 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama is the 14th and current Dalai Lama. Dalai Lamas are the most influential figures in the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, although the 14th has consolidated control over the other lineages in recent years...
responded in an interview with a Japanese newspaper, threatening to break with tradition and choose his own successor while he was still living.
Olympics and unrest
In the runup to the 2008 Beijing Olympics2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
in February, Ye Xiaowen traveled to the United States to address Bush administration concerns about Chinese religious policy. He met with Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky
Paula Dobriansky
Paula Jon Dobriansky is an American foreign policy expert who has served in key roles as a diplomat and policy maker in the administrations of five U.S. presidents, both Democrat and Republican. She is a specialist in the areas of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union as well as...
, ambassador for religious freedom John Hanford
John Hanford
John Van Hanford III was United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom from 2002 to 2009. As ambassador, Hanford led the Office of International Religious Freedom at the United States Department of State....
, and retired Archbishop of Washington
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington is a particular church of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. It comprises the District of Columbia and Calvert, Charles, Montgomery, Prince George's and Saint Mary's counties in the state of Maryland....
Theodore McCarrick. He said that China respects religious belief, criticized the U.S. State Department
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
's last annual report on religious freedom, and explained the muted response over the Dalai Lama's Congressional Gold Medal
Awards and honors presented to the 14th Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama has received numerous awards over his spiritual and political career. He was a laureate for community leadership in 1959 Ramon Magsaysay Awards, Asia's version of Nobel Prize. On 22 June 2006, he became the third person to be recognised with Honorary Citizenship by the Governor...
. There, he expressed hope for reconciliation with the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
, with whom the People's Republic does not currently have ties because it recognizes the rival Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
.
After the 2008 Tibetan unrest
2008 Tibetan unrest
The 2008 Tibetan unrest, also known from its Chinese name as the 3•14 Riots, was a series of riots, protests, and demonstrations that started in Tibetan regional capital of Lhasa and spread to other Tibetan areas and a number of monasteries including outside the Tibet Autonomous Region...
, Ye published an opinion piece in a December edition of China Daily
China Daily
The China Daily is an English language daily newspaper published in the People's Republic of China.- Overview :China Daily was established in June 1981 and has the widest print circulation of any English-language newspaper in the country...
. Entitled, "Shangri-La has changed and Tibetans know it", he criticized those who thought themselves "'experts' [about Tibet] after reading a mere handful of texts". Quoting from Lost Horizon, the work that introduced the concept of Shangri-La
Shangri-La
Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by British author James Hilton. Hilton describes Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery, enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains...
, he said that Tibet would only become "an everlasting peaceful land" if separatist agitation were quashed and all ethnic groups in Tibet developed equally.
Central Institute of Socialism
Ye was promoted in September 2009 to the Secretary of the CPC Committee at the Central Institute of Socialism, replacing Lou Zhihao. Former Deputy Director Wang Zuoan was promoted to Director, a routine move that is not expected to effect changes in policy. The Roman Catholic ChurchRoman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
-affiliated Asia News was especially critical of Ye's legacy, calling him "a perfect representative of the idea that religions should be subservient to the power and supremacy of the Party".