A Tibetan monk set himself on fire Monday to protest the lack of
religious freedom in China, the second such protest in five months.
Tuesday the government announced a "strike hard" campaign aimed at the
Muslim Uighur minority in the northeastern territory of Xinjiang.
Meanwhile, the authorities are tightening control over mainstream
Christian churches, stepping up arrests of Catholic priests.
There are few voices exposing the mistreatment of Tibetans and
Uighurs, but Catholics have leaders who are beginning to fight back.
Last month the Vatican excommunicated two bishops ordained by the
state-controlled Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, citing church
law that clergymen can only be ordained with the pope's blessing.
Benedict XVI also deplored the Communist Party's belligerent handling of
the ordinations—which went so far as to kidnap priests who are in
communion with Rome and force them to take part in the ordinations.
Now
Beijing is detaining priests who refuse to comply with the Party's
demands.
Until
last year, Beijing was making progress toward reconciling its
"patriotic" church with the Vatican, extracting concessions from Rome
with the promise of consultations on future appointments.
The Holy See
was willing to accept new ordinations of bishops and priests, while most
of the previously ordained clergy had quietly pledged their allegiance
to Rome.
This seemed to be part of a broad recognition by Beijing that
mainstream religion is a stabilizing force in society, rather than a
subversive force to be feared.
Things started to go wrong last November, when the state-run church
ordained a bishop without the pope's approval.
The breakdown in
relations worsened as Beijing continued a wider crackdown against all
forms of freedom of expression.
Chinese leaders' fear of democratic
movements like the Arab Spring spreading to China was clearly one factor
behind this trend.
Crackdowns may have succeeded in deterring resistance in the past,
but as the response of groups as different as Tibetans, Uighurs and
Catholics show, they are now creating more resistance.
By depriving
religious and ethnic minorities the space to preserve their culture and
practice their faith, Beijing is alienating the next generation who have
rising expectations for personal freedom.
A clash between the Party's
culture of control and the Chinese people's growing consciousness about
their rights looms.