Faith in the world's second most populous country has been under constant suppression for 74 years.

The report, which delves into the challenging task of collecting data in a nation known for tight media control and atheistic indoctrination, paints a striking picture.

China appears, on the surface, to be "the least religious country in the world," according to Pew demographer Conrad Hackett.

Only 10% of Chinese identify with a religion, and merely 3% consider religion "very important" in their lives, starkly contrasting to 98% in Indonesia and 37% in the United States.

Pew faced government barriers in conducting field surveys, relying instead on data from government reports, Chinese universities, private polling firms and the Sweden-based World Values Survey.

The report acknowledges the complexities and limitations of these data sources, highlighting discrepancies such as the government's claim of 34,000 registered Buddhist temples compared to experts' count of 190,000.

Beneath the surface, Chinese society remains steeped in spiritual beliefs and superstitions. Rituals, incense-burning, fortune-telling, and belief in Buddha and Taoist deities persist, even among those not formally affiliated with a religion.

However, questions linger about whether believers are hesitant to discuss their faith under the ever-watchful eye of China's government.

Targeted harassment

Religious persecution has intensified since 2017, coinciding with President Xi Jinping's tenure.

Muslims in Xinjiang, Buddhists in Tibet, unregistered Protestants and Catholics, and the Falun Gong movement have faced targeted harassment. Despite this, China has experienced a significant Christian revival, largely attributed to unregistered Protestant "house churches."

Pew reports that China now boasts 109.65 million evangelical Protestants, with 64% in unregistered groups and 20 million Catholics, divided between unregistered churches and the government-approved Catholic Patriotic Association.

While the Christian community has grown substantially since the 1980s, Pew notes a plateau in registered Protestant churches during Xi's leadership, suggesting a potential underground surge. However, reliable data remains elusive due to recent repression.

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Reuters could not establish if the place was currently functioning as a mosque.

Within minutes of reporters arriving, four men in plainclothes showed up and took up positions around the site, locking gates to nearby residential buildings.

The men told the reporters it was illegal to take photos and to leave.

"There's no mosque here … there has never been a mosque at this site," said one of the men in response to a question from Reuters if there was a mosque inside. He declined to identify himself.

Minarets on the building's four corners, visible in publicly available satellite images in 2019, have gone.

A large blue metal box stood where the mosque's central dome had once been. It was not clear if it was a place of worship at the time the satellite images were taken.

In recent months, China has stepped up a campaign on state media and with government-arranged tours to counter the criticism of researchers, rights groups and former Xinjiang residents who say thousands of mosques have been targeted in a crackdown on the region's mostly Muslim Uyghur people.

Officials from Xinjiang and Beijing told reporters in Beijing that no religious sites had been forcibly destroyed or restricted and invited them to visit and report.

"Instead, we have taken a series of measures to protect them," Elijan Anayat, a spokesman for the Xinjiang government, said of mosques late last year.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Wednesday some mosques had been demolished, while others had been upgraded and expanded as part of rural revitalization but Muslims could practice their religion openly at home and in mosques.

Asked about restrictions authorities put on journalists visiting the area, Hua said reporters had to try harder to "win the trust of the Chinese people" and report objectively.

Reuters visited more than two dozen mosques across seven counties in southwest and central Xinjiang on a 12-day visit during Ramadan, which ended on Thursday.

There is a contrast between Beijing's campaign to protect mosques and religious freedom and the reality on the ground. Most of the mosques that Reuters visited had been partially or completely demolished.

China has repeatedly said that Xinjiang faces a serious threat from separatists and religious extremists who plot attacks and stir up tension between Uyghurs who call the region home and the ethnic Han, China's largest ethnic group.

A mass crackdown that includes a campaign of restrictions on religious practice and what rights groups describe as the forced political indoctrination of more than a million Uyghurs and other Muslims began in earnest in 2017.

China initially denied detaining people in detention camps, but has since said they are vocational training centres and that the people have "graduated" from them.

The government says there are more than 20,000 mosques in Xinjiang but no detailed data on their status is available.

Some functioning mosques have signs saying congregants must register while citizens from outside the area, foreigners and anyone under the age of 18 are banned from going in.

Functioning mosques feature surveillance cameras and include Chinese flags and propaganda displays declaring loyalty to the ruling Communist Party.

Visiting reporters were almost always followed by plainclothes personnel and warned not to take photographs.

A Han woman, who said she had moved to the city of Hotan six years ago from central China, said Muslims who wanted to pray could do so at home.

"There are no Muslims like that here anymore," the woman said, referring to those who used to pray at the mosque. She added: "Life in Xinjiang is beautiful." Continue reading