E/CN.4/1991/56
page 73
Liu Guandong and Yang Libo were examined according to law respectively in
November and December 1989 and were given rehabilitation through labour of
three years.
Pei Ronggui and Li Side were arrested according to law for seriously
disturbing the social order and conducting illegal activities. Their cases
are under examination.
Fan Xueyan was a former Catholic bishop of the Baoding diocese. He was
sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of 10 years in 1983, for he collaborated
with foreign religious forces in interfering with the religious affairs of
China, which endangered the national sovereignty. In November 1987, he was
granted parole and settled down in Baoding diocese.
5.
There are two letters of 1989 annexed to your letter of 15 June 1990
to which I would like to provide the following reply:
With reference to the allegations attached to your letter dated
2 May 1989 (see E/CN.4/1990/46, para. 35), the findings of my Government are
as follows:
In April 1989, a few lawless persons from Youtong village,
Luancheng County, Hebei province, incited some Catholics to forcefully occupy
a school. As a result, the school was shut down for four months. Officials
of the department concerned were sent to the village to settle the problem.
But they were attacked and beaten by some people. At that time, both sides
had people wounded, and no one was killed. The wounded were treated
promptly. This is just an incident in maintaining public order and has
nothing to do with religious intolerance.
According to the allegation attached to your letter dated 8 November 1989
(see E/CN.4/1990/46, para. 37), the Chinese Government prohibited Tibetan
temples from recruiting monks or nuns; the temples could not be renovated or
ask for or accept donations without the permission of the Government. These
allegations are totally unfounded.
The Chinese Government protects the normal religious activities of
citizens of Tibetan nationality and attaches importance to teaching of and
research on Buddhism. During the 'Cultural Revolution', there were incidents
of temple destruction in Tibet as elsewhere in China. However, since 1978,
the policy of freedom of religious belief has been once again implemented in
earnest. The Government has earmarked large sums of money for the renovation
and maintenance of the temples, and has helped Tibetans to set up places for
their religious activities. There are now more than 1,400 temples and
34,000 monks and nuns in Tibet. The Tibetan monks and laymen may carry on
their normal religious activities. Recently the Government appropriated an
additional sum of more than 35 millions yuan to renovate the Potala Palace.
With reference to the allegations attached to your letter dated 2 May and
8 November 1989, which also referred to the riots in Lhasa, the Chinese
delegation to the forty-sixth session of the Commission on Human Rights made a
detailed exposition during the session which has been carried in the summary
records of the Commission.