“Strict governance of religion” is a new program (although the slogan existed before) launched at the national seminar on Sinicization of religion of June 26, 2024. It calls for a stricter control of clergy and sermons, and for the acknowledgment that bureaucrats of the government-controlled five authorized religions have not been effective enough in this surveillance. Hence, the direct involvement of the United Front Work Department and the local Communist Party organs in the governance of religious communities.Progressively, starting with Christians, “strict governance” is being imposed on all government-controlled religions. Provincial “strict governance” training courses and conferences are being organized in August by the China Taoist Association. They also insist on the duty of the Taoist clergy to propagate and explain to the devotees the documents of the recent Third Plenum, presenting Xi Jinping as the “Great Reformer” and the heir of Deng Xiaoping’s “Reform and Opening Up,” and to continue with the “Sinicization” of Taoism.
This may seem strange to outsiders as Taoism is a quintessential Chinese religion and is not in need of being “Sinicized.” However, insiders have long understood that “Sinicization” does not mean adapting a religion to Chinese culture, but to Marxism and the precepts of the Chinese Communist Party. In fact, the August Taoist seminars insist that Taoist communities should implement programs based on the “five identities” or “five identifications” (五个认同): identification with the Great Motherland, identification with the Chinese nation, identification with Chinese culture, identification with the Chinese Communist Party, and identification with socialism with Chinese characteristics….
