VZCZCXRO0198
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHGH #0229/01 1090816
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 190816Z APR 07
FM AMCONSUL SHANGHAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5727
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0990
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 0571
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0552
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 0577
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 0677
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 0456
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 0063
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE 0051
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0126
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 6109

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SHANGHAI 000229 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/CM, AND DRL/IRF 
NSC FOR WILDER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  4/19/2017 
TAGS: PGOV KIRF PINR CH
SUBJECT: CHINA CHRISTIAN COUNCIL PRESIDENT CAO MEETING 
 
REF: A) SHANGHAI 214 B) KAO-BACCAM 4-18-2007 E-MAIL 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Simon Schuchat, Deputy Principal Officer,  , U.S. 
Consulate Shanghai. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: In an April 18 luncheon hosted by the Consul 
General, China Christian Council (CCC) President Cao Shengjie 
confirmed that all Protestant churches must go through the China 
Christian Council/Three-Self Patriotic Movement (CCC/TSPM) in 
order to register, although these churches did not have to be 
affiliated with the CCC/TSPM in order to register.  Pressed, 
they could not provide any concrete examples of churches not 
affiliated with the CCC/TSPM that had been able to register. 
Rev. Cao was pleased with her recent trip to the United States 
in which she met with think-tanks, USG officials, NGOs, and 
church leaders.  While disappointed that many interlocutors 
misunderstood the religious situation in China, she valued her 
discussions and was open to more exchanges on religion with U.S. 
organizations.  Cao said the Chinese government was becoming 
more supportive of religious organizations and recognized that 
religious organizations could play a positive role in promoting 
social stability and building a "harmonious society."  According 
to Cao, the government's emphasis on "harmonious society" had 
provided the CCC/TSPM with more space to expand social services. 
 End Summary. 
 
---------- 
U.S. Visit 
---------- 
 
¶2.  (C) The Consul General hosted a lunch for CCC President Cao 
Shengjie on April 18 to discuss her recent trip to the United 
States.  CCC Executive Deputy Secretary General Chen Meilin, CCC 
Deputy Secretary General Bao Jiayuan, CCC Training Department 
Secretary Gu Mengfei, Deputy Principal Officer, 
 
SIPDIS 
Political/Economic Section Chief and Poloff also attended the 
lunch.  According to Cao, her U.S. trip was very useful as this 
was the first time she had met with think-tanks such as the 
Brookings Institute.  She also met with NGOs, Christian Church 
leaders in New York and Washington D.C., faith-based 
organizations, U.S. Ambassador for Religious Freedom John 
Hanford and Congressman Chris Smith.  In addition, she was 
interviewed by the Associated Press and wrote an editorial for 
the Washington Post/Newsweek's website on religious issues 
(http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/g uestvoices). 
 
¶3.  (C) Cao lamented that many of her U.S. interlocutors had 
little understanding of the religious situation in China and 
were surprised to hear that the Protestant Church was growing. 
For example, one interlocutor was convinced that the Chinese 
government had deleted words from the Bibles printed and 
distributed in China.  Another believed that all sermons had to 
be approved by government officials.  She noted that this was 
not true.  Even if she did show her sermons to government 
officials, she observed, they would not understand them. 
Despite these misunderstandings, she valued her meetings in the 
United States and welcomed having more exchanges.  Consul 
General noted that he had heard about Rev. Cao's meeting with 
Ambassador Hanford and inquired about the information centers to 
facilitate theological exchanges between Chinese and American 
professors and students via the State Department's International 
Religious Freedom office and the CCC that was discussed in the 
meeting (Ref. B).  Rev. Cao acknowledged the discussion, but was 
non-committal about the idea. 
 
------------------------------ 
Government Attitudes Shifting? 
------------------------------ 
 
¶4. (C) Rev. Cao welcomed President Hu Jintao's "harmonious 
society" concept and noted that like Christianity, it emphasized 
reconciliation.  The concept indicated that government officials 
were also beginning to recognize that religious groups could 
play a positive role in promoting stability.  The fact that 
CCC/TSPM was able to expand the Nanjing Seminary and get back 
its property in Shanghai was an indication that the government 
attitudes towards religious groups was changing.  She added that 
State Administration for Religious Affairs Director Ye Xiaowen 
 
SHANGHAI 00000229  002 OF 003 
 
 
gave a three-hour multi-media presentation at the most recent 
Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) 
meeting in Beijing.  This was the first time that there had been 
a presentation on religion at the CPPCC.  Delegates reacted 
positively to Ye's presentation, and after the session, many 
approached Rev. Cao to ask about the CCC/TSPM. 
 
------------------------------- 
CCC/TSPM's Role In Registration 
------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (C) According to Rev. Cao, Chinese regulations clearly 
stated that all religious organizations must go through a 
religious body in order to register a meeting point.  This meant 
that for protestant churches, they must go through the CCC/TSPM. 
 She added, however, that this was not the only requirement and 
that organizations must also get permission from other 
organizations, such as neighborhood committees.  When she was 
head of the Shanghai CCC, a church had problems registering 
because its neighbors complained about early Sunday morning hymn 
singing.  After some negotiations with the neighborhood 
committee, the church agreed to move its services to a more 
secluded location and was able to register. 
 
¶6.  (C) CCC Executive Deputy Secretary General Chen Meilin added 
that the law also required that the religious organization be 
headed by a trained minister.  The minister did not need to have 
formal training at a CCC/TSPM seminary.  She added that it was 
the CCC/TSPM's wish to help the government in identifying 
capable leaders for these organizations.  CCC Deputy Secretary 
General Bao Jiayuan added that 5 or 6 years ago, the government 
discovered that two churches that had registered were members of 
Eastern Lightning, which is considered by the Chinese government 
to be a "cult."  The CCC/TSPM's involvement in the registration 
process was helpful to the government in determining whether a 
church was affiliated with a cult. 
 
¶7.  (C)  Chen said that to her knowledge, it was not necessary 
for Protestant religious organizations to be affiliated with the 
CCC/TSPM in order to register.  When pressed, neither Chen nor 
Rev. Cao could provide any concrete examples of non-CCC/TSPM 
affiliated churches that were able to register.  They claimed 
that there were such churches in Zhejiang province, but could 
not provide any details.  Chen added that the registration issue 
was handled by provincial CCC/TSPM's and, as representatives of 
the national CCC/TSPM, they had little information on the issue. 
 
------------------ 
Shortage of Clergy 
------------------ 
 
¶8.  (C) The CCC officials said that one of the greatest 
challenges currently faced by the CCC/TSPM was the shortage of 
clergy.  Rev. Cao said the CCC/TSPM was trying to encourage 
young Christians to dedicate themselves to the church.  However, 
this was very difficult.  Most new seminarians came from the 
countryside.  Few came from Shanghai, where there was a great 
deal of pressure for young people to get a high paying job.  The 
CCC/TSPM was now focused on training more lay persons.  Rev. Cao 
said that lay volunteers already played a large role in running 
churches and this would continue in the long-term.  Bao, who 
also served as Director of the CCC/TSPM Training Department, 
said that there were two general training programs for lay 
preachers.  Urban volunteers could attend night classes and get 
a certificate in a few years.  Rural residents could attend a 
one-year course. 
 
------------------------- 
Expanding Social Services 
------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (C)  Rev. Cao noted while the government's emphasis on 
"harmonious society" had provided the CCC/TSPM with more space, 
it was vital that the CCC/TSPM manage this opportunity correctly 
and do everything legally.  She added that it was also important 
for the CCC/TSPM to take advantage of this opportunity and 
expand its social services.  It was important for the CCC/TSPM 
to be more involved in society and show that Christianity was a 
positive force.  This would allow them to gain the people's 
trust, which was needed for the CCC/TSPM to develop.  Unlike 
 
SHANGHAI 00000229  003 OF 003 
 
 
Shanghai Catholic Bishop Jin who believed that the Catholic 
Church would be able to open up schools and clinics in five or 
six years (reftel), Rev. Cao said it would be impossible for the 
CCC/TSPM to operate schools as this would violate the separation 
of church and state.  However, CCC/TSPM was already running 
small clinics.  For example, the church in which she presides 
over in Shanghai has organized free medical consultations for 
congregants after service for the past 10 years.  In Zhejiang, 
the Zhejiang CCC/TSPM was using its bible-distribution vehicle 
to transport retired doctors and nurses to the countryside to 
give free medical care. 
 
¶10.  (C) Chen added that the CCC/TSPM provided training on 
HIV/AIDs prevention to its pastors last week.  The CCC/TSPM was 
also becoming more involved in assisting autistic children and 
had provided support to three autistic centers in China, located 
in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Qingdao.  Chen noted that the church 
had also become more involved in providing counseling training 
to its pastors.  In cooperation with Fuller Seminary, it 
recently organized a seminar for 20 CCC/TSPM Pastors and 5 
American Pastors to discuss counseling.  Chen and Bao also 
attended the seminar and said that American and Chinese pastors 
were involved in counseling congregants on the many of the same 
issues, primarily marriage, children's education and employment 
problems.  However, Chinese Pastors worked harder then American 
pastors because congregants had less access to professional 
counseling services and came to them with more problems. 
 
---------------- 
Personnel Moves? 
---------------- 
 
¶11. (C) Rev. Cao was very cautious about personnel questions. 
The 76-year old Cao refused to discuss her retirement plans and 
who would replace her as CCC President.  She also had little to 
say about Shanghai's new Party Secretary Xi Jinping.  She noted 
that he had yet to meet with local leaders.  She did say that 
Xi's father, Xi Zhongxun was a good man with a good attitude 
towards religion. 
JARRETT