Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue: A623-W385

魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A623-W385

Release Date: April 9, 2011

发布日：2011年4月9日

Topic: U.S. House Speaker Vows to Support Religious Freedom in China, Wei Jingsheng Analysis Chinese Human Rights Will Become One of the Most Important Links of the International Issues (Radio Free Asia)

标题：美众院议长誓言支持中国宗教自由，魏京生分析中国人权问题将成为国际问题中最重要的一个环节　（自由亚洲电台报道）

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U.S. House Speaker Vows to Support Religious Freedom in China, Wei Jingsheng Analysis Chinese Human Rights Will Become One of the Most Important Links of the International Issues

-- Radio Free Asia

2011-04-07

The U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Congressman John Boehner, met with religious leader from Hong Kong on Wednesday. The U.S. Speaker of the House is ranked third in the U.S. system of political figures. After the meeting, he said that the United States would offer unequivocal support to the effort of promoting Chinese freedom of religion and belief.

Speaker Boehner met with Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the retired archbishop of Hong Kong, and released a written statement after the meeting. Agence France-Presse reported that Boehner said in the statement that "I told him he has my unequivocal support for his work on behalf of the Church in support of religious liberty for all people."

Boehner further said in his statement that "as it was in Poland under Pope John Paul II during the peak of the Cold War, the Church today is a beacon of hope for positive change and freedom in China." He stressed that "Religious liberty is a fundamental human right, and when government encroaches upon the rights of its people, the United States cannot and must not be silent."

Cardinal Joseph Zen was the archbishop of the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong who retired in 2009. Bishop Zen has been an outspoken critic of the Communist Party of China, in regarding its religious and other social policies.

Mark, a staff member of China Aid Association, a Christian concern group, said that in the past few years the room for religious groups in China has been diminishing continuously, while the suppression from the government authority has been growing.

"Last month, we just released a 2010 report about the Chinese government's suppression against Christianity. Over the past five years, the suppression has been increasing. Last year there were two major events. One was the forceful ordination of bishop in China, which angered the Vatican, thus ending 4 years of good relationship. The other was that more than two hundred Chinese who were going to attend the third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelisation in Cape Town, South Africa, were blocked by the Chinese government."

The relationship between the Vatican and the Chinese government has nose-dived since last year when the Chinese government named its own Catholic bishop. The government has increasingly suppressed the Catholics, which have been underground and are not recognized by the Communist authority. As a matter of fact, other religious groups that are not controlled by the Chinese government also have been in very difficult situations in China in the past few years. Mark analyses that this difficulty is related to the Chinese politics turning to the left as a whole.

"First, Hu Jintao's government is very conservative in their ideology. Some of its methods and styles are similar to the Mao Era in the past. Of course, it was not that severe, which is normal. Second, the influence on society and culture when religious issues are expanded. For the government, religious groups are social groups that are independent of the government, which it will not tolerate.

The sixty-one-year-old John Boehner is a Republican Congressman from Ohio. In November 2010, when the Republicans won mid-term elections in the United States to regain control of the House, Boehner was elected to be the Speaker. Boehner shed tears in many interviews, and was criticized by some people as too emotional. The well-known Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng said that this time Boehner's expression regarding Chinese religious freedom is not being emotional.

"The Republican Congressional members have always been more concerned about the freedom of religion and belief. This concern has a lot to do with their constituents. Usually, the Republican voters are more devout religious believers. So, I think that Boehner's statement is a very important signal. Many American politicians have also realized that Chinese human rights are indeed important. Indeed, it is not only about human rights in China, but also in the other areas of the world.""

Wei Jingsheng's analysis is that the Republican Party in the USA will present their suggestions and amendments to President Obama regarding many fields, both domestic and international. Of which, the issues regarding Chinese human rights will become one of the most important links of the international issues.

The above is a report by Radio Free Asia's reporter Shi Shan.

(Translated by: the Wei Jingsheng Foundation. Original link: http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/zongjiao-04072011154806.html)

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中文版

Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue: A623-W385

魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A623-W385

Release Date: April 9, 2011

发布日：2011年4月9日

标题：美众院议长誓言支持中国宗教自由，魏京生分析中国人权问题将成为国际问题中最重要的一个环节　（自由亚洲电台报道）

Original Language Version: Chinese (English at beginning, Chinese version at the end)

此号以中文为准（英文在前，中文在后）

如有中文乱码问题，请与我们联系或访问:

http://www.weijingsheng.org/report/report2011/report2011-04/WeiJSonBoehnerJ110409freedomA623-W385.htm

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美众院议长誓言支持中国宗教自由，魏京生分析中国人权问题将成为国际问题中最重要的一个环节

2011-04-07

美国国会众议院议长，共和党籍议员博纳，在星期三会见了来自香港的宗教界人士之后表示，美国将毫不含糊地支持推动中国宗教和信仰自由的努力。

星期三，美国众院议长博纳会见了已退休的原天主教香港枢机主教陈日君，并在见面之后发表书面声明。法新社报道说，博纳在声明中表示，他向陈主教保证，会毫不含糊地支持推动中国宗教自由的努力。

美国众议院议长，是美国体制中排位第三的政治人物，他在声明中还表示，正如冷战时期在波兰的情况一样，天主教目前也是中国自由和进步的希望所在。他强调，信仰自由是最重要的基本人权之一，当人民的这些权利受到侵犯，美国政府不能也不应该保持沉默。

陈日君是天主教香港教区枢机主教，2009年退休。陈主教经常公开批评中国的宗教和其他社会政策。

在美国的基督教关注组织对华援助协会工作人员马可表示，最近几年以来，中国的宗教团体活动空间日益狭小，官方的打压也越来越严重。

“我们上个月刚刚发布了一个2010年中国政府对基督教逼迫的一个报告。过去五年里逼迫的程度日益增加。去年我们有两件大事情，一个就是中国政府强行册封主教，导致梵蒂冈很生气，四年美好的关系就破裂了；另外就是两百位参加开普敦举行的世界宣教大会的中方人员被中国政府拦住。”

梵蒂冈天主教庭和中国政府之间的关系，在去年因为中国擅自任命主教等问题陷入低谷，中国对非官方的天主教地下教会压力日渐加大。事实上，其他非官方控制的宗教团体在中国的处境近年也十分艰难。马可分析说，这和中国政治整体向左转有关。

“首先一方面胡锦涛政府他们在意识形态方面非常保守。类似于过去毛泽东时代的一些方式方法。当然远远没有那么严重了，这是它的正常特点；另一方面，当宗教问题扩大之后，对社会文化产生影响。从政府的角度来讲，就是一种独立于政府的社会团体，导致打压冲突就越来越严重。”

现年六十一岁的博纳是来自俄亥俄州的共和党籍议员，２０１０年１１月，共和党在美国中期选举中重新夺回众议院的控制权，博纳被众议院选为众议院院长。博纳因为多次在媒体采访中流泪，被一些人批评为过于感情用事。中国著名异议人士魏京生表示，这次对中国宗教自由问题的表态，博纳不是感情用事。

“共和党这些议员一向都比较关心宗教问题和信仰自由的问题，这跟他们的选民有很大的关系，一般美国的共和党的选民大部分都是比较虔诚的宗教信徒。那么博纳的表态我觉得是一个很重要的信号。很多的美国政治家也意识到了中国的人权其实很重要，它不仅仅是中国人的人权，还关系到世界其他各个地方的形势。”

魏京生分析说，美国共和党会在国内和国际事务多个领域向奥巴马总统提出建议和修正，其中有关中国人权的问题，将成为国际问题中最重要的一个环节。

以上是自由亚洲电台记者石山的报道。

（原始连接：http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/zongjiao-04072011154806.html）

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