_WORLD WATCH______________________________
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Churches under siege
Human-rights groups want US pressure
In February, as US President George W. Bush prepared for a tour of Asia, human-rights activists in China urged the American leader to raise the issue of religious persecution during his visit to Beijing. In support of those requests, Chinese Christians and their supporters abroad provided new information on the Communist regime’s repressive policies.

A group called the Committee for Investigation of Persecution of Religion in China published documents obtained from the Chinese Ministry of State Security, listing several Protestant groups as “sects” that must be suppressed. Among these sects was the South China Church, whose leader, Gong Shengliang, was recently sentenced to death for “leading a dangerous cult.”

The Fides news service then released a list of 33 Chinese bishops and priests who are currently imprisoned, under house arrest, or missing. These clerics, Fides explained, have been punished because they are not affiliated with the government-controlled Catholic Patriotic Association, which is the only Catholic group recognized by the Beijing government. The list of imprisoned Catholic clergy also included bishops who are restricted in their movements, and prevented from exercising their ministry. Fides identifies 13 Chinese bishops as unable to serve their people, either because they are under arrest or because their activities are strictly supervised and controlled. There are also several priests who have been released from prison but prevented from returning to active ministry.

President Bush promised that he would mention the issue of religion when he met with Chinese President Jiang Zemin. The US leader told reporters that during a previous conversation last October, “I talked to him in very personal terms about my Christian beliefs.” Bush also said that he would express his desire for China’s government to “honor the request of the papal nuncio to be able to at least have a dialogue about bishops that are interned there.”

But at a press conference after the two men met on February 21, Jiang Zemin brushed off questions about his government’s religion policies, and insisted that the Chinese people already enjoy full religious freedom. When pressed by journalists about the Christians who had been jailed in recent weeks, Jiang said that they were imprisoned not because of their religious beliefs but because they had “broken the law.”

Cloning as a goal
Scientists see no ethical problems
Chinese scientists claim to have cloned “dozens” of human beings in recent years, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

The newspaper, quoting researchers at Xiangya Medical College, said that several different Chinese groups are working with cloned human embryos. China, the paper reports, is moving “to the forefront of some of biotechnology’s most controversial technologies.”

Some Western scientists interviewed by the Journal professed skepticism about the Chinese claims. Others said that the Chinese advances prove the argument cited by American proponents of embryonic research—that experiments on human cloning are certain to continue, with or without the support of the US government.