Freedom of religion in China

Freedom of religion in China may be referring to the following entities separated by the Taiwan Strait:

• In the People's Republic of China (PRC), freedom of religion is provided for in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, yet with a caveat: the government controls what it calls "normal religious activity", defined in practice as activities that take place within government-sanctioned religious organizations and registered places of worship. Although the PRC's communist government claimed responsibility for the practice of religion, human rights bodies such as United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) have much criticized this differentiation as falling short of international standards for the protection of religious freedom.
• In the Republic of China (ROC), it is provided for by the Constitution of the Republic of China, which is in force on Taiwan. The ROC's government generally respects freedom of religion in practice, with policies which contribute to the generally free practice of religion.

The long history in ROC's constraint of the freedom of religion is a prelude to that of the PRC. The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officially espouses state atheism, and has conducted antireligious campaigns to this end. China's five officially sanctioned religious organizations are the Buddhist Association of China, Chinese Taoist Association, Islamic Association of China, Three-Self Patriotic Movement and Catholic Patriotic Association. These groups have been overseen and controlled by the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party since the State Administration for Religious Affairs' absorption into the United Front Work Department in 2018. Unregistered religious groups - including house churches, Falun Gong, and underground Catholics - face varying degrees of harassment, including imprisonment and torture under Xi Jinping Administration. This is also compared to the ROC with PRC's strong neglect of human rights protections, state-sanctioned discrimination, and generally low regard for freedom of religion or belief. As for the Taiwan, Freedom House gave it the top score for religious freedoms in 2023. Possibly the only coercion to practice a certain faith in Taiwan comes from within the family, where the choice to adopt a non-traditional faith can sometimes lead to ostracism "because they stop performing ancestor worship rites and rituals." China has recently updated its Religious Affairs Regulations, leading to a notable curtailment of the freedom of religion and belief.