Will Religion Challenge the Chinese State? China stands out as
one of the few officially atheistic states in the world today.
Yet, with the exception of uprisings among Tibetans and Uyghur
Muslims that were often as much about national identity as about
religion, China has largely been spared the kind of political
unrest inspired by religion experienced elsewhere. This does not
reflect the absence of organized religion in China; indeed, many
sociologists have noted a dramatic revival of belief and
practice in that country. Rather, it suggests a remarkable
ability on the part of the Chinese state not only to punish or
pre-empt unrest instigated by religious believers, but also to
co-opt some religious associations and even to promote the
growth of certain forms of religiosity that the state considers
more compatible with its own goals. André Laliberté, a Woodrow
Wilson Center Public Policy Scholar and professor with the
School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa, spoke
at a June 13, 2011, event pr