The visit to China by Bishop Stephen Chow of Hong Kong may have been a mistake, but it is also an indicator of Beijing’s continuing war on faith.
Bishop Chow, wittingly or unwittingly, may have made himself a pawn in Beijing’s co-option strategy. Time will tell what his reasons are, how much in control of his plans he actually is, and to what extent he was coerced into complicity. That his visit was distressing, disturbing and disappointing is not in doubt, especially for those of us – like me – who greeted his appointment last year with relief and some hope.
Xi Jinping’s Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime desires ultimately to eradicate religion and, in the short to medium term, to restrict, repress, control and co-opt religion. The bishop’s visit, and his remarks, are a sign of just how much pressure is to come on religious freedom in Hong Kong.
Until now, religious freedom appeared to be the last remaining freedom: Christians and other religious communities have been free to go to places of worship and practice their faith freely. To an untrained eye, even though all other freedoms have been stripped from Hong Kong, religious adherents are still able to worship. Yet that has always been a fallacy, for several reasons.
First, as soon as freedom itself – and its component parts – is trampled upon, inevitably freedom of religion or belief will be impacted. As soon as freedom of association, expression and assembly are undermined, freedom of religion or belief is eroded.