Heterodox teaching is a concept in the law of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and its administration regarding new religious movements and their suppression. Also translated as 'cults' or 'evil religions', "heterodox teachings" are defined in Chinese law as organizations and religious movements that either fraudulently use religion to carry out other illegal activities, deify their leaders, spread "superstition" to confuse or deceive the public, or "disturb the social order" by harming people's lives or property.[1] What exactly these definitions mean has been interpreted in various ways since their establishment in 1999/2000. Organizations that are found by local police forces in the PRC to be distributing heterodox teachings are targeted for disruption, and its leaders and organizers are severely prosecuted.
The current law regarding heterodox teachings was established by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) in October 1999, based in part on an earlier law from November 1995. A few months later, in April 2000, the Ministry of Public Security published its own guidance on what constituted a heterodox teaching organization, how they would be addressed, and a list and description of 14 religious organizations identified as organizations for suppression (included below). These movements were directly compared to the historical religious movements the White Lotus and the Red Lanterns, both widely regarded as cults.
One religious movement that has been consistently targeted is Falun Gong. The passage of the heterodox teachings laws is widely viewed as part of the overall campaign for the persecution of Falun Gong in the PRC. The persecution has drawn condemnation from governments worldwide, with 921 lawmakers and political figures signing a statement in 2020 calling it a "systematic and brutal campaign to eradicate the spiritual discipline of Falun Gong”.[2]
On 30 October 1999, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress passed the “Decision on Banning Heretical Organizations and Preventing and Punishing Heretical Activities”, which called for a crackdown on “heretical organizations such as Qigong and other forms”, and also applied retroactively to Qigong practitioners.
On the same day, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate issued a joint judicial interpretation named, “Explanation on Questions Concerning the Concrete Application of Laws Handling Criminal Cases of Organizing and Making Use of Heretical Organizations”. The interpretation reads:
The offenses of establishing or using sects to organize, scheme, carry out and instigate activities of splitting China, endangering the reunification of China or subverting the country’s socialist system should be handled according to relevant laws on endangering State security offenses, as stipulated in the Criminal Law.[3]
The following 14 organizations and movements were specifically named in the 2000 list of heterodox teachings published by the Ministry of Public Security. This list articulated different organizations that the Ministry had investigated or been involved in the suppression of since at least 1983. The first seven groups on the list were organizations identified by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council, while the second group of seven organizations were identified directly by the ministry. A feature of some, but not all, of the Christian organizations on this list is that their leaders claim to be the second coming of Christ or some other kind of unique church authority.
In addition to the fourteen groups listed above, scholar Edward A. Irons noted an additional eight organizations identified as heterodox groups in various governmental lists and edicts issued before Xi Jinping succeeded Hu Jintao as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in 2012, for a total of 22 groups.[4] Those additional groups are:
On September 18, 2017, a new government heterodox website listed a total of 20 groups (all of the 22 groups listed above, but with the notable exceptions of Zhong Gong and the Pure Land Learning Association, whose omission is the cause of some speculation), eleven of whom were identified as "dangerous", as opposed to the nine groups receiving the lesser warning to "be on guard" against them. These eleven groups were:
NotesReferences
| + Chinese government documents related to heterodox teachings | |||
| Legislation | Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Banning Cult Organizations, Preventing and Punishing Cult Activities | 1999 | |
| Ministry of Public Security | Notice of the Ministry of Public Security on Several Issues Concerning the Identification and Banning of Cult Organizations | 2000 | |
| Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court | Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Establishing and Using Cults to Disrupt the Implementation of Law | 2017 |