The rapid growth of religious activity in China, especially among Christians but including other religions as well, raises profound questions about the relationship of religion to government, its impact on society, and its potential effects on the emerging social challenges facing China. What are the factors shaping the Chinese approach to this critical issue? What challenges does this approach face? How might we expect it to evolve in the future? These are important questions for U.S.-Chinese relations, given the role of religion in American society and the importance attached to religious freedom in United States foreign policy. This two-day conference will examine this critical and timely topic through several lenses from distinguished scholars from both China and the United States.

9:00 – 10:45 a.m.                   

PANEL FOUR                                                                                                                                                                        The Current and Potential Impact of Religion on the Social Transition Taking Place in Contemporary China

Moderator: Douglas G. Spelman, Deputy Director, Kissinger Institute

The Role of Religion in Achieving a Harmonious Society in China -- ZHUO Xinping, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

A Constitutional Analysis of the Enforcement of the Municipal Regulation of the Religious Affairs (MRRA, B City) -- ZHANG Shoudong (John), China University of Political Science and Law

Cults, Sects, and New Religions in China -- J. Gordon Melton, Institute for the Study of American Religion

Charity and Public Good: An Effective Channel for Religion to Enter the Public Domain -- ZHENG Xiaoyun, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

10:45 – 11:00 a.m.                  Coffee Break

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.         

PANEL FIVE                                                                                                                                                            Chinese and Western Views of the Status of Religion in Contemporary China: Common Ground or Continued Tension?

Moderator: Clement Wang, Asia Research Center Foundation

Finding Common Ground Through Comparative Constitutional Law -- W. Cole Durham, Jr., Brigham Young University Law School

United Front and Security: Two Foci of China’s Religious Policy -- XU Yi Hua, Fudan University

The Communist Party and the Religious Plurality of China -- André Laliberté, Ottawa University and former Wilson Center Public Policy Scholar

Some Indigenous Models of Church-State Relationships in the Context of 21st Century Chinese Society -- CHOU Fu Chu, National Central University

This event is a collaboration between the Wilson Center's Kissinger Institute on China and the United States and the Asia Research Center (ARC) Foundation.