1.Introduction
一、简介

Although China has become the second largest economy in the world, there is no doubt that it is still a communist state even if it is arguably substantially different from previous communist countries before the Cold War.
尽管中国已成为世界第二大经济体，但毫无疑问，尽管它与冷战前的共产主义国家有很大不同，但它仍然是一个共产主义国家。

When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took power in Mainland China in 1949, the government carried out strict policies to restrict, reduce and even eradicate religion. This was in line with the tradition that all countries under Communist rule, both past and present, had to regulate against religion.
1949年中国共产党在中国大陆掌权后，政府实行严格的政策限制、减少甚至消灭宗教。这符合共产党统治下的所有国家，无论过去还是现在，都必须对宗教进行管制的传统。

During the Cultural Revolution, all religious sites were closed, and to secretly keep a religious scripture or artifact was a crime. The few remaining believers were forced to make public renunciations or were “wiped away like dust” into dark prison corners or reeducation-through-labor camps.
文化大革命期间，所有宗教场所都被关闭，秘密保存宗教经书或文物是犯罪行为。剩下的少数信徒被迫公开放弃信仰，或者被“像灰尘一样抹去”到黑暗的监狱角落或劳教所。

Fortunately, Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping realized the failed practice of the past and started to change China’s policy on religion. After 1979, a limited number of Protestant and Catholic churches, Buddhist and Daoist temples, and Islamic mosques were reopened for religious services. In addition, in 1982 the CCP provided basic guidance on religious affairs with a document called “The Basic Viewpoint and Policy on the Religious Affairs during the Socialist Period of Our Country”, also known as “Document No. 19”.
幸运的是，中国领导人邓小平认识到了过去的失败做法，并开始改变中国的宗教政策。 1979年后，少数新教和天主教教堂、佛教和道教寺庙以及伊斯兰教清真寺重新开放进行宗教活动。此外，1982年，中共发布了《我国社会主义时期宗教事务的基本观点和政策》，又称“19号文件”，对宗教事务作出了基本指导。

It not only showed that respect and the protection of the right to freedom of religion was a basic policy for the CCP but it also strengthened the CCP’s leadership which was the key to success in governing religious affairs.
这不仅表明尊重和保护宗教自由权利是中国共产党的一项基本政策，而且加强了中国共产党的领导，这是治理宗教事务取得成功的关键。

At the same time, in line with the Party’s policy, the newly enacted Constitution 1982 clearly stipulated in Section 1 of Article 36 that “[C]itizens of the People’s Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious belief”.
同时，根据党的政策，新制定的1982年宪法第三十六条第一款明确规定“中华人民共和国公民有宗教信仰自由”。

It can be seen, therefore, that freedom of religion has both constitutional and policy grounds in China.
由此可见，宗教自由在中国既有宪法依据，也有政策依据。

Against this background, there has been a revival of certain religions despite the restrictive regulations imposed on them by the government. The authorities claim that since the mid-1990s the number of all religious believers has grown to around 100 million. A study carried out by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 2010 estimated that there are 23 million Christians in China. In 2011, Pew Research put the figure closer to 67 million, or 5% of the population, with 35 million Christians practicing their faith in underground or “house” churches.
在此背景下，某些宗教尽管受到政府的限制，却出现了复兴。当局称，自20世纪90年代中期以来，宗教信徒人数已增至1亿左右。中国社会科学院2010年进行的一项研究估计，中国有2300万基督徒。 2011 年，皮尤研究中心估计这一数字接近 6700 万，即人口的 5%，其中 3500 万基督徒在地下或“家庭”教会实践他们的信仰。

Nevertheless, in an authoritarian context, an important lesson to learn is how to control religious activities in practice because freedom of religion must be recognized as a constitutional right.
然而，在威权主义背景下，一个重要的教训是如何在实践中控制宗教活动，因为宗教自由必须被视为一项宪法权利。

From a sociological perspective, Yang Fenggang has observed that there has emerged a triple-market of religions in China: a red market (officially permitted religions), a black market (officially banned religions) and a gray market (religions with an ambiguous legal/illegal status).
杨凤岗从社会学的角度观察到，中国的宗教已经出现了三重市场：红市（官方允许的宗教）、黑市（官方禁止的宗教）和灰市（法律/法规不明确的宗教）。非法身份）。

However, the existing literature in law mainly focuses on the legal status of religions according to the two sorts of legal rules as mentioned above, and little attention has been paid to the extent to which freedom of religion has been implemented under China’s legal regime in practice; the conditions under which the government authorities have tolerated it; and the ways in which government authorities have restricted such freedom from a socio-legal perspective.
然而，现有的法律文献主要关注的是上述两种法律规则下宗教的法律地位，而很少关注宗教自由在我国法律制度下在实践中得到何种程度的落实。 ;政府当局容忍这种行为的条件；以及政府当局从社会法律角度限制这种自由的方式。

This article aims to develop a theory to explain the extent to which freedom of religion has been fulfilled under China’s current legal regime.
本文旨在提出一种理论来解释中国现行法律制度下宗教自由的实现程度。

2. Conditional Freedom of Religion in Red Area: Registration inside the “Law Box”
2 .红色区域有条件的宗教自由：“法律盒子”内的登记

Though China is still an authoritarian state, it has formally recognized religious freedom as a constitutional right in the Constitution of 1982 in which Article 36 states that:
尽管中国仍然是一个专制国家，但它在1982年宪法中正式承认宗教自由为宪法权利，其中第36条规定：

[C]itizens of the People’s Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious belief.
[C]中华人民共和国公民享有宗教信仰自由。

No State organ, public organization or individual may compel citizens to believe in, or not to believe in, any religion; nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in, any religion.
任何国家机关、社会团体和个人不得强迫公民信仰宗教或者不信仰宗教；也不得歧视信仰或不信仰任何宗教的公民。

The State protects normal religious activities. No one may make use of religion to engage in activities that disrupt public order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the educational system of the State.
国家保护正常的宗教活动。任何人不得利用宗教从事扰乱公共秩序、损害公民身体健康、干扰国家教育制度的活动。

Religious bodies and religious affairs are not subject to any foreign domination.
宗教团体和宗教事务不受外国统治。

This provision has been further specified in other sources of laws. For example, the Regulations on Religious Affairs (RRA) was a basic rule made by the State Council in 2005 to govern domestic religious affairs, and the Provisions on the Administration of Religious Activities of Aliens within the Territory of the PRC (PARAA) governs foreign-related religious affairs.
这一规定在其他法律渊源中得到了进一步明确。例如，《宗教事务条例》（RRA）是国务院于 2005 年制定的管理国内宗教事务的基本规定，《中华人民共和国境内外国人宗教活动管理规定》（PARAA）则管理外国宗教事务。与宗教有关的事务。

In addition, Article 251 of the Criminal Law of the PRC states that: [A]ny functionary of a State organ who unlawfully deprives a citizen of his or her freedom of religious belief or infringes upon the customs and habits of an ethnic group, if the circumstances are serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than two years or criminal detention.
此外，《中华人民共和国刑法》第251条规定：国家机关工作人员非法剥夺公民的宗教信仰自由或者侵犯民族风俗习惯，有下列行为之一的：情节严重的，处二年以下有期徒刑或者拘役。

The constitutional provision, however, has some ambiguities, such as the definition of “normal” as only normal religious activities are protected. This needs to be specified in specific laws. In practice, it is possible that what is normal in other countries may not be normal in the eyes of the Chinese authorities.
然而，宪法条款存在一些含糊之处，例如“正常”的定义为仅保护正常的宗教活动。这需要在具体法律中予以明确。实际上，在其他国家正常的事情在中国当局眼中可能并不正常。

The RRA considers the basic legal rules for governing religious affairs domestically and it has actually created a specific “law box” to specify what “normal” is by establishing a registration system for all religions.
RRA考虑了国内管理宗教事务的基本法律规则，并通过为所有宗教建立登记制度，实际上创建了一个特定的“法律框”来明确什么是“正常”。

Firstly, according to the RRA, the establishment, alteration or cancellation of registration of a religious body has to be done in accordance with the provisions of the Regulations on Registration Administration of Associations made by the State Council. The Ministry of Civil Affairs or the local authorities in charge of civil affairs usually handle this kind of registration.
首先，宗教团体的设立、变更或者注销登记，应当按照国务院《社团登记管理条例》的规定办理。通常由民政部或地方民政部门办理此类登记。

However, it has been noted that, despite the theoretical freedom to seek registration for a new religious body, registration in fact is exceptionally difficult.
然而，人们注意到，尽管理论上可以自由地寻求新宗教团体的注册，但实际上注册却异常困难。

Secondly, collective religious activities have to be held at registered sites, such as Buddhist monasteries, Taoist temples, mosques, churches and other fixed premises for religious activities. Moreover, an application for permission to establish a site for religious activities has to be made by a registered religious body to the RAB at the county level. Permission is usually given within 30 days from the date of receipt of the application and, if the application is accepted, it is then reported to the RAB at the next level for approval within 30 days from the date of receipt of the report. Finally, the report is sent to the RAB at the provincial level for final examination and approval again within 30 days from the date of receipt. Once approval is received, preparation for establishing the site for religious activities can start.
其次，集体宗教活动必须在经登记的寺院、道观、清真寺、教堂等固定宗教活动场所进行。此外，设立宗教活动场所必须由登记的宗教团体向县级宗教事务局申请许可。一般自收到申请之日起30天内给予许可，受理申请的，自收到报告之日起30天内报上一级RAB批准。最后，报告自收到之日起30天内再次报省级RAB审批。获得批准后，即可开始筹建宗教活动场所。

Thirdly, the religious personnel or clergy who engage in professional religious activities are qualified to do so by registered religious bodies and are reported to the RAB at or above the county level.
三是宗教教职人员、神职人员从事宗教专业活动，应当经登记的宗教团体取得资格，并向县级以上宗教事务部门报告。

In addition, the CCP, as the single ruling party, uses the CCP’s United Front Work Departments (UFWD) at different levels to exert influence over religious groups by overseeing the RAB at different levels. This is further strengthened by the newly enacted Regulations on the United Front Work of the Communist Party of China in 2015 which ensures that religious groups are supportive of the regime.
此外，中共作为单一执政党，利用中共各级统战部，通过监督各级宗教事务委员会，对宗教团体施加影响。 2015年新颁布的《中国共产党统一战线工作条例》进一步强化了这一点，确保宗教团体支持政权。

The result of this is that it has, in fact, formed a “law box” by establishing a registration system for all religions under the leadership of the CCP.
这样做的结果就是，它实际上形成了一个“法律盒子”，在中共的领导下建立了所有宗教的登记制度。

In addition, for foreign-related religious activities in China, religious leaders may preach and expound their scripture at the registered religious sites only if they have been invited by religious bodies in China that are recognized at, or above, the provincial level. Moreover, a Chinese contracting unit must make an application to the RAB of the State Council in charge of religious affairs.
此外，在中国境内进行涉外宗教活动，宗教领袖必须经省级以上认可的中国宗教团体邀请，才可以在登记的宗教活动场所讲经、讲经。此外，中方承包单位必须向国务院宗教事务主管部门提出申请。

In such a way, the government is able to maintain a network of control through registration and its approval system. Purely from a legal point of view, this can ensure that all activities conducted by various religious bodies at the religious sites are lawful. However, this registration and approval-monitoring system which is conducted through the legislation made by the State Council, has, in fact, greatly restricted freedom of religion in practice. In other words, legislation is just like a “law box” within which people can only exercise their religious freedom.
这样，政府就能够通过登记和审批制度维持控制网络。纯粹从法律角度来说，这可以保证各宗教团体在宗教活动场所进行的一切活动都是合法的。然而，这种通过国务院立法实施的登记审批监管制度，实际上极大地限制了宗教自由。换句话说，立法就像一个“法律盒子”，人们只能在其中行使宗教自由。

Under such a legal framework, religions can be developed, albeit in a limited way, and they are often criticized as “patriotic” by non-approved religious groups.
在这样的法律框架下，宗教可以得到发展，尽管其发展方式是有限的，但宗教常常被未经认可的宗教团体批评为“爱国”。

In this regard, for instance, in the city of Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, which is believed to have China’s largest Christian community and is called “China’s Jerusalem” by some, the Sanjiang church, the site of which was officially registered with the government authorities, was developed to hold about 3000 religious followers.
在这方面，例如，在被认为拥有中国最大的基督教社区、被一些人称为“中国的耶路撒冷”的浙江省温州市，三江教堂的地点已在政府当局正式注册。 ，可容纳约 3000 名宗教信徒。

However, the development of registered religion is constrained inside the law and political boxes as the government authorities restrict its development to ensure that religion will not undermine or threaten the Party’s tradition of atheism, or even its leadership.
然而，登记宗教的发展受到法律和政治框架的限制，因为政府当局限制其发展，以确保宗教不会破坏或威胁党的无神论传统，甚至党的领导。

However, due to their formal relationship with the government, it is more likely that registered religions will be able to gain the trust of the government, hold some activities or even cooperate with the government in practice. For example, as an alternative, some registered religious sites of the churches in Guangzhou may distribute some religious followers to the nonregistered churches in practice if they do not have the capacity to offer them a religious service.
但由于与政府的正式关系，注册宗教更有可能获得政府的信任，举办一些活动，甚至在实践中与政府合作。例如，作为一种替代方案，广州一些注册教会的宗教活动场所如果没有能力为非注册教会提供宗教服务，在实践中可能会向非注册教会派送一些信教信徒。

Sometimes they may even engage in some unlawful activities with the acquiescence of the government. For instance, in the case of Sanjiang church, the government only formally approved around 20,000 square feet for the building of the church but in order to meet the needs of their development the church complex was built over more than 100,000 square feet of land.
有时他们甚至可能在政府的默许下从事一些非法活动。以三江教堂为例，政府只正式批准了约2万平方英尺的教堂建筑面积，但为了满足教堂发展的需要，教堂建筑群占地超过10万平方英尺。

The question which arises here is, why is a church, which abides by Christian doctrine, being built in a large space which exceeds the approved scope and is obviously unlawful? Indeed, besides the profound culture and long history of Christianity in this area, the main reason for the rapid development of Sanjiang church is its longstanding good relationship with the local government authorities.
这里出现的问题是，为什么一座遵守基督教教义的教堂建在一个超出批准范围的大空间，明显违法呢？确实，除了该地区基督教文化深厚、历史悠久之外，三江教会之所以能够迅速发展，最主要的原因还是与当地政府部门长期以来的良好关系。

Both the congregation and the local RAB claim that such a violation was encouraged by the government at first in order to show that this city is an outward-looking community.
会众和当地RAB都声称，这种违规行为最初是受到政府鼓励的，目的是为了表明这个城市是一个外向型社区。

In addition, this kind of gray market of religion has become a common phenomenon in this area, which means that “unlawful” things can exist safely on the condition that the government remains “lenient” so that the relevant law or policy is not enforced strictly in practice. It can be seen that this kind of acquiescence for “unlawful” activities in practice is ascribed to the church’s good relationship with the local government.
此外，这种宗教灰市已成为该地区的普遍现象，这意味着“非法”的东西可以安然存在，只要政府保持“宽大”态度，不严格执行相关法律或政策。在实践中。可见，这种在实践中对“非法”活动的默许，得益于教会与当地政府的良好关系。

However, if this precarious situation is unbalanced for whatever reason, the “unlawful” gray area, though having existed for a period of time, will be prohibited by enforcing the relevant laws or policies strictly.
但如果这种不稳定的局面因某种原因而失衡，“非法”的灰色地带虽然已经存在了一段时间，但仍将通过严格执行相关法律或政策来予以禁止。

In the case of Sanjiang Church, it is widely accepted that the church’s problems seem to have begun with a visit to the region by the provincial party secretary, Xia Baolong. He was reportedly disturbed that a religious building, especially one seen as representing a foreign belief, dominated the skyline, and he insisted that the church was illegal and must be torn down completely.
以三江教会为例，人们普遍认为教会的问题似乎是从省委书记夏宝龙视察该地区开始的。据报道，他对一座宗教建筑，尤其是一座被视为代表外国信仰的建筑占据天际线感到不安，他坚持认为这座教堂是非法的，必须彻底拆除。

Here, at least, it can been seen that the religions, though officially sanctioned, are able to develop after passing the “scaffolding” of the government in practice, and they are able to maintain the purity of their religion with less interference from politics in reality. Furthermore, this kind of freedom can sometimes exist outside the “law box” under the cover of its official status as a religious site and with personnel registered with the government if it can maintain a good relationship with the government.
至少在这里可以看出，宗教虽然得到了官方的认可，但在实践中却能够在经过政府的“脚手架”之后得到发展，并且能够在较少受到政治干扰的情况下保持宗教的纯洁性。现实。此外，如果能够与政府保持良好的关系，这种自由有时可以在其宗教场所的官方地位和在政府登记的人员的掩护下存在于“法律框”之外。

3.Limited Freedom of Religion in Gray Area: Non-registered Religions outside the “Law Box”
3.灰色地带的有限宗教自由：“法律框”之外的未注册宗教

As the officially sanctioned religions have their own limits inside the “law box”, or have to risk suppression if they want to break through the bottleneck of the “law box”, many religions choose to exist and develop in the gray market.
由于官方认可的宗教在“法律盒子”内有其自身的局限性，或者想要突破“法律盒子”的瓶颈就必须冒着被打压的风险，因此许多宗教选择在灰色市场中生存和发展。

Strictly from a legal point of view, according to the RRA, the government definitely treats non-registered religions as unlawful due to their lack of legal basis although some may argue that the RRA’s view is ambiguous as it only governs the religious bodies, religious sites and personnel.
严格从法律角度来看，根据 RRA 的说法，政府肯定将未注册的宗教视为非法，因为它们缺乏法律依据，尽管有些人可能认为 RRA 的观点含糊不清，因为它只管辖宗教团体、宗教场所和人员。

The issue to be addressed here is rather why unregistered religion can exist and develop without a legal basis, or to what extent and in what ways can this kind of “unlawful” religion enjoy freedom at the empirical level.
这里要讨论的问题是，未经登记的宗教为什么能够在没有法律依据的情况下存在和发展，或者这种“非法”宗教在经验层面上能在多大程度上、以何种方式享有自由。

Consequently, if found, they will be answerable to the law or can expect some form of punishment. Looking at the legal liability of unregistered religions, Article 43 of the RRA states that: Where a non-religious body or a site not for religious activities organizes or holds religious activities or accepts religious donations, the religious affairs department shall order it to discontinue such activities and confiscate the illegal gains, if any; if the circumstances are serious, a fine of not less than one time but not more than three times the illegal gains may be imposed concurrently.
因此，一旦被发现，他们将受到法律的制裁或受到某种形式的惩罚。针对未登记宗教的法律责任，《宗教改革条例》第四十三条规定：非宗教团体、非宗教活动场所组织、举办宗教活动或者接受宗教捐赠的，由宗教事务部门责令停止其活动。有违法所得的，予以没收；情节严重的，可以并处违法所得一倍以上三倍以下的罚款。

However, in practice, these non-registered religions generally only operate on a small-scale and make little profit. Nevertheless, it is extremely difficult for the government authorities to find the “illegal” gains of the non-registered religious sites. Therefore, the penalty in the RRA is normally unable to prevent these religions from emerging and being successful in practice.
然而，在实践中，这些未注册的宗教一般规模较小，利润微薄。然而，政府当局要查明未登记宗教场所的“非法”收益却极其困难。因此，《宗教改革法》中的处罚通常无法阻止这些宗教的兴起和成功实践。

In addition, the houses or structures that are used for the purpose of religious activities are private homes or buildings rented for a period of time if the religion has developed to a certain scale.
另外，用于宗教活动的房屋或者构筑物，是指宗教发展到一定规模后，私人住宅或者租用一段时间的建筑物。

Due to the ambiguity of the RRA, these kinds of personal property cannot simply be used as non-registered religious sites even if they are owned legally. In practice, it is unrealistic for the government authorities to dispose of these legally-owned houses or structures.
由于 RRA 的模糊性，此类个人财产即使是合法拥有的，也不能简单地用作未注册的宗教场所。在实践中，政府部门处置这些合法拥有的房屋或构筑物是不现实的。

Furthermore, unlike other illegal activities, religious activities generally do not have the intention to disrupt public order or infringe the rights of others. Rather, in principle, they are practicing to contribute to the good of the neighborhood and community; normally, these kinds of religious activities are able to proceed in an orderly way. Thus, it is very rare for these religious activities to be involved in a violation of public security administration.
此外，与其他非法活动不同，宗教活动一般没有扰乱公共秩序或侵犯他人权利的意图。相反，原则上，他们的做法是为邻里和社区的利益做出贡献；正常情况下，此类宗教活动能够有序进行。因此，这些宗教活动涉及违反治安管理行为的情况十分罕见。

In addition, these religious activities are generally not open to the public but tend to remain in a small circle and hidden.
此外，这些宗教活动一般不向公众开放，往往处于小圈子、隐蔽状态。

In addition, it is found that grassroots government authorities in charge of religious affairs directly normally have a passive attitude towards these non-registered religious activities in the gray area.
此外，我们还发现，基层直接主管宗教事务的政府部门对于这些未登记的灰色地带宗教活动往往持消极态度。

Firstly, as shown above, the contact details of non-registered religions are generally hidden from the public but they can be approached if necessary. Due to a lack of complete information about non-registered religions, in practice, it is extremely difficult for the government authorities to collect sufficient evidence and monitor these unlawful activities routinely.
首先，如上所示，未注册宗教的联系方式通常不向公众公开，但如有必要，可以联系他们。由于缺乏有关非注册宗教的完整信息，在实践中，政府当局很难收集足够的证据并定期监控这些非法活动。

Secondly, as the non-registered religions are generally only on a small scale, they are more flexible and mobile and the place where they gather may change frequently.
其次，由于非登记宗教一般规模较小，因此比较灵活、流动性大，聚集地点可能经常变化。

In addition, in some developed areas with a large number of foreign investors who are religious believers like Shanghai, the government will take a more lenient and non-confrontational attitude toward these foreign religious believers as investors or residents in order to maintain a good relationship with them as this is extremely important for the prosperity of the local economy.
此外，在一些像上海这样外来投资者中有大量宗教信仰者的发达地区，政府会对这些外来宗教信仰者作为投资者或居民采取更加宽松和非对抗的态度，以维持良好的关系。他们认为这对于当地经济的繁荣极其重要。

As the public has gradually accepted religions, as opposed to superstitions, the government is more likely to be condemned by the public for not allowing religious freedom. Moreover, the government may be held accountable for the subsequent potential unrest if it uses strict enforcement as this could affect the “social stability”. As a result, Chinese officials are seriously concerned about the rise of any potential social unrest.
随着公众逐渐接受宗教，而不是迷信，政府更容易因为不允许宗教自由而受到公众的谴责。此外，如果政府严格执法，可能会为随后潜在的骚乱承担责任，因为这可能会影响“社会稳定”。因此，中国官员对任何潜在的社会动荡的出现感到严重关切。

Finally, as stated above, the government authorities normally have no interest in using incentives to force the RRA to take certain measures and enforce relevant policies strictly as the “illegal gains” from the non-registered religions are very few or even non-existent as long as their activities have not yet raised serious concerns politically.
最后，如上所述，政府当局通常无意利用激励手段迫使宗教宗教局采取某些措施并严格执行相关政策，因为非注册宗教的“非法收益”很少甚至不存在。只要他们的活动尚未引起政治上的严重关切。

Against this background, it is understandable why the government authorities normally have a tendency to take a tolerant attitude toward non-registered religions despite not having the necessary legal status according to the RRA.
在此背景下，可以理解为什么政府当局通常倾向于对未注册的宗教采取宽容的态度，尽管根据宗教事务局的规定，这些宗教不具备必要的法律地位。

The tolerance of the government towards non-registered religions may be short-lived once these religions develop and overshadow the dominant ideology of the government which adheres to the Party’s general principle of atheism, or they are found to be involved in “sensitive issues” politically, such as posing a threat to national security or activities which involve foreign nationals.
一旦这些宗教发展并盖过了坚持党的无神论总原则的政府主导意识形态，或者被发现涉及政治“敏感问题”，政府对未登记宗教的宽容可能是短暂的。 ，例如对国家安全构成威胁或涉及外国人的活动。

In fact, there are no specific rules or standards to determine where the boundary of the government’s tolerance is, or what the exact meaning of “national security” or “sensitive issues” is in an authoritarian context. It is often complicated in practice, and is ultimately subject to the determination of the government authorities.
事实上，并没有具体的规则或标准来确定政府容忍的界限在哪里，或者在专制背景下“国家安全”或“敏感问题”的确切含义是什么。实践中往往比较复杂，最终取决于政府当局的决定。

For instance, in the case of Guangzhou Liangren Church, although the congregation of the church is only small, the church founder played a leading role in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, which is undoubtedly a sensitive and worrying factor that could lead the government authorities to take suppressive measures.
以广州良人教会为例，虽然该教会的会众规模不大，但该教会的创始人在1989年的天安门广场抗议活动中发挥了主导作用，这无疑是一个敏感而令人担忧的因素，可能导致政府当局采取压制措施。

4. No Freedom of Religion in Black Area: Religions as “Evil Cults”
四、黑人地区没有宗教自由：宗教是“邪教”

Due to the existence of the gray area of the religious market as previously discussed, it is possible for some religions to develop into extremely large-scale nationwide religions without drawing any attention from the government authorities. In other words, by the time that the government authorities have become aware of such a pervasive religion, it may already have grown very large and could be extremely “threatening” to the government authorities or the public.
由于前面讨论的宗教市场灰色地带的存在，一些宗教有可能在没有引起政府当局重视的情况下发展成为规模极其庞大的全国性宗教。换句话说，当政府当局意识到这种普遍存在的宗教时，它可能已经发展得非常庞大，并且可能对政府当局或公众构成极大的“威胁”。

However, it is normally difficult for the local government at the regional level to dismiss them. Given its impact nationwide, in practice, the NPCSC will initiate a nationwide campaign against this type of religion by defining it as an “evil cult”.
然而，地方政府通常很难解雇他们。鉴于其在全国范围内的影响，在实践中，全国人大常委会将在全国范围内对此类宗教进行打击，将其定性为“邪教”。

Under the current regime in China, the NPCSC, as the national legislature, has the constitutional authority to set up a legal framework for all other state organs to fight against evil cults.
在中国现行体制下，全国人大常委会作为国家立法机关，拥有宪法权力为所有其他国家机关建立打击邪教的法律框架。

Practically speaking, an anti-cult mobilization will be launched nationwide by the CCP from the top level.
从实践上讲，中共将从高层开始在全国范围内开展反邪教动员。

Once a religion is defined as an “evil cult” politically, some similar religious activities, if they are not recognized by the government authorities, might also be affected negatively in the first stage of the campaign. For example, it was seen that, following a national campaign, Falun Gong, Zhong Gong, Xiang Gong and other large Qigong groups were all branded evil cults and banned.
一旦某个宗教在政治上被定性为“邪教”，一些类似的宗教活动如果不得到政府当局的认可，也可能在第一阶段的整治中受到负面影响。例如，经过全国整治，法轮功、中功、相功等大型气功团体都被定为邪教并取缔。

The court, as the ultimate adjudicator, will subsequently hear these cases involving cults. In practice, the court mainly applies Article 300 of the Criminal Law of the PRC in handling these kinds of cases. Article 300 states that: [W]hoever forms or uses superstitious sects or secret societies or unorthodox religious organizations or uses superstition to undermine the implementation of the laws and administrative rules and regulations of the State, to cheat another person, and causes death to the person, to rape a woman or swindle money or property, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment.
法院作为最终审判者，将随后审理这些涉及邪教的案件。实践中，法院审理此类案件主要适用《中华人民共和国刑法》第三百条的规定。第三百条规定：组织、利用迷信、会道门、邪教组织或者利用迷信破坏国家法律、行政法规的实施，欺骗他人，造成他人死亡的行为。强奸妇女或者诈骗财物的，处有期徒刑。

During the period of the campaign against the evil cult, judicial reasoning may give way to politics in the process of judicial decision-making.
在反邪教时期，司法决策过程中司法推理可能让位于政治。

5.Conclusion
五、结论

It comes to the conclusion that, with the establishment of the formal regime of Chinese law, China has formed a tripartite model of freedom of religion in practice, which is compatible with its authoritarian nature. Such a tripartite model comprises three layers: Conditional freedom of religion; limited freedom of religion; no freedom of religion.
结论是，随着中国法律正式制度的建立，中国在实践中形成了与其专制性质相适应的三方宗教自由模式。这种三方模式包括三个层次： 有条件的宗教自由；有限的宗教自由；没有宗教自由。

Such a tripartite model is dynamic, resilient, and compatible with China’s authoritarianism under the leadership of the CCP.
这样的三方模式是有活力的、有弹性的，并且与中国共产党领导下的威权主义相适应。