by Daniel M. Silverman

The current Chinese government has come to power in 1949, and since that time, there has been much suppression against religion. More familiar to the world is it’s anti-Christian oppression, but the Chinese government has gone to great length to try and rid the country of other religious and spiritual groups, such as the Falun Gong.

“It's a long period, 54 years,” said Mario Poceski, an expert on Chinese religions. “Generally during the worst period which was during the 60's, a culture revolution occurred, it wasn't just one religion it was all religions."

The Falun Gong is a spiritual religion based on Buddha the nature of life and natural law. About 70 million in China practice Falun Gong. Since it’s gain of popularity, China has placed many followers of Falun Gong in prison and labor camps.

“One of the reasons why Falun Gong might be more of a problem is because one of the reasons in the eyes of the government is the group is able to mobilize large groups of people,” Poceski said.

The Chinese government also has done a great deal to Christian movements with in the country. Many have been detained, arrested, beaten and in some cases killed. According to Religioustolerance.org, an auxiliary bishop was detained and two other bishops were detained and have been missing since 1996.

“Out of the whole population you are probably talking about, it is only 5 percent, very, very minor, but of course you are talking about China which has a large population so you could be talking about hundreds of thousands of people.”

These actions, no doubt, cause much fear among those who wish to practice these types of religions and follow these types of groups.

China also has become concerned with the spread of Islam with in its borders. In 2001, police opened fire on 300 Muslims, killing five, according to the Center for Reduction of Religious-Based Conflict. They also say that in the southern province of Yunnan, the government fears many Islamic militant groups crossing the borders of other Southeast Asian countries.

China fears religion as its biggest foe against their government. This fear is bigger than traditional political activism against the communist country. A protection of culture is one of China’s biggest desires. Over the years this has become more difficult as more and more western cultures have invaded China.