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DE RUEHGZ #0460/01 1030849
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R 130849Z APR 07
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUANGZHOU 000460 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
USPACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KIRF PGOV SOCI CH
SUBJECT: Seminary Lecturer Discusses Protestantism in Guangdong, 
Harmonious Society, Underground Churches 
 
REFERENCE: Beijing 1963 
 
(U) This document is sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: A lecturer at the Guangdong Union Theological 
Seminary provided an overview of the small but active provincial 
Protestant community.  It has ties with U.S. and Hong Kong religious 
institutions and seeks to maintain good relations with the 
government.  Local governments have encouraged Guangdong religious 
organizations to provide more social services, particularly disaster 
relief, under the rubric of building a "harmonious society." 
Underground churches do not register because of historical, 
practical, or ideological reasons.  END SUMMARY 
 
Protestantism in Guangdong 
-------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Guangdong Union Theological Seminary lecturer Huang Tianhua 
described Guangdong's Christian community as relatively small 
compared to other provinces, such as Fujian, Zhejiang, and Henan. 
He told Congenoff on April 4 that Guangdong has 700 Protestant 
churches with 300,000 registered members.  Many of the churches are 
located in villages and in the northeast part of the province, in 
cities such as Shantou, Meizhou, and Shanwei.  He said the number of 
Christians in Guangdong is growing, though it has slowed from the 
pace of a few years ago. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Though Protestant churches are officially 
non-denominational, Huang said individual churches sometimes align 
themselves with particular doctrines.  He noted that many of 
Guangzhou's churches follow Methodist or Anglican teachings because 
of the British influence during the 19th century.  Guangdong's rural 
churches are generally more fundamentalist that urban churches, 
according to Huang.  He said the church derives all of its funding 
from donations and receives no government financial support 
whatsoever.  Very little funding comes from foreign sources, with 
the occasional exception of money coming from Hong Kong. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Since proselytizing is illegal in China, churches rely on 
word of mouth to gain new members.  He said churches are allowed to 
distribute one-page flyers quoting scripture on their grounds, but 
cannot pass out pamphlets on the street.  In a recent conversation 
with Congenoff, the president of the Guangzhou International 
Christian Fellowship (GIFC) said that, beginning a couple of years 
ago, some Guangzhou churches have begun distributing pamphlets on 
the streets.  He added that government officials are no doubt aware 
of the practice. 
 
International Exchanges 
----------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Huang said the increasing frequency of exchanges between 
Chinese and foreign students, teachers, and pastors has made the 
Protestant church a more modern organization.  Most of the Guangdong 
seminary's international exchanges are with Hong Kong, the United 
States, and Europe.  Tuition is typically funded through 
scholarships at the receiving institution.  Huang has traveled to 
the United States a number of times, including three times during 
the past year.  A conference hosted by the Fuller Theological 
Seminary in March, at which Huang participated, included teachers 
from several Chinese seminaries as well as pastors from grassroots 
churches in Anhui, Jiangxi, and Hangzhou. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Though Chinese law prohibits foreign pastors from preaching 
in Chinese churches, the government has not prevented them from 
lecturing at the Guangdong seminary.  Huang added that the Guangdong 
seminary frequently hosts guest lecturers, and two American pastors 
were arriving the following week, one a Baptist from Tennessee and 
the other an Anglican from Connecticut. 
 
Relations with the Government; Building a "Harmonious Society" 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Huang was positive about the relationship among Guangdong 
churches, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) and GCC, and the 
government.  He said the Religious Affairs Bureau does not typically 
deal directly with individual churches; rather TSPM and GCC act as 
liaisons.  Huang stressed that TSPM and GCC are not government 
agencies, and represent the interest of churches.  Practically 
speaking, TSPM and GCC are the same organization as they use the 
same staff, according to Huang. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Huang said China's religious organizations are contributing 
to a more active civil society while also supporting the 
 
GUANGZHOU 00000460  002 OF 002 
 
 
government's policy of building a "harmonious society."  Huang noted 
that government approval is more forthcoming now than in the past 
for church-related social services such as day care, medical 
assistance, and educational scholarships.  Officials have also put 
pressure on religious groups in recent years to contribute 
financially to disaster relief efforts.  Huang said Christians 
should see this as an opportunity to prove their worth "through 
deeds instead of words." 
 
Underground Churches and Cults 
------------------------------ 
 
¶9. (SBU) Huang acknowledged that underground churches are common in 
Guangdong, but could not estimate their size or number.  When asked 
why these groups choose not to register, he said it is usually for 
one of three reasons: historical (they see GCC as a government 
puppet, which Huang said was true 25 years ago but is no longer the 
case); practical (they fail to reach required thresholds for 
members, financial reporting, or facility safety); and theological 
(they see registering as "obeying man instead of God").  Huang 
emphasized that it is in the long-term interest of underground 
churches to register because they can draw on the legal and 
management expertise of GCC.  Religious cults are rare in Guangdong, 
according to Huang, but are nevertheless a concern in rural areas 
because registered and unregistered village churches lack trained 
pastors. 
 
Biographic Information 
---------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Reverend Huang began teaching at the Guangdong Protestant 
Seminary in 2006, after completing a three-year master's degree in 
theology in Hong Kong at the China Graduate School of Theology. 
Prior to that, he worked in Guangzhou as a pastor and administrator 
for the Guangdong Christian Council (GCC) for 11 years.  He is 
originally from Meizhou, Guangdong and speaks Cantonese, Hakka, 
Mandarin, and English.  The Guangdong seminary, which is one of 18 
Protestant seminaries in China and celebrated its 20th anniversary 
in 2006, has 72 students, eight full-time faculty, and ten part-time 
faculty. 
 
GOLDBERG