The China Project
Project group: Egil Lothe - The Council of Religious and Life Stance Communities in Norway and President of the Norwegian Buddhist Association, Koen Wellens - Norwegian Centre for Human Rights China Programme, Hanna Havnevik; (University of Oslo IKOS and \director of Network for Tibet) og Knut Espen Arnesen (University of Oslo Faculty of Theology)
Over a period of 5 years the Oslo Coalition has been working together with the People's Republic of China on freedom of religion and belief. In 2006 a delegation was present at the World Buddhist Forum in Shanghai, and continued with its network building activities in that context. In December 2006 the OC arranged the conference "Law and religion in Transitional Societies" in cooperation with, among others, the Chinese Academy for Social Sciences, the Pu Shi Institute for Social Science, and the Institute for World Religions.
In 2010:
- Book Launch: “Freedom of Religion in China: Norwegian Experiences from the Human Rights Dialogue” will take place in the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights in April.
- Delegational visit to Beijing and Yunnan: with the objective of maintaining and strengthening the Oslo Coalition dialogue with the state religious authorities in China, while at the same time increasing their first hand knowledge of the religions and religious places under their jurisdiction, a delegation from OC will meet with the state religious authorities in Beijing, and travel with their representative to and around the Yunnan province visiting religious communities and places of workship.
- Fact Finding Mission to North Korea or Vietnam: Using contacts developed throught the WBF; The Oslo Coalition's China group wishes to benefit from methodology developed in relation to China in one of these countries. This is part of Oslo Coalition plan to explore ways of giving its tools and methodologies a wider application, without taxing the capacity of the small secretariat.
In 2009:
- World Buddhist Forum 2009 27th March in Taiwan: OC project group chairman Egil Lothe, a member of the Steering Committee for the WBF, and Knut Espen Arnesen represented Oslo Coalition at the event. See project report here
- Book presentation: "10 Years of change in China for Freedom for Religion" was presented at the conference desribed in pt.3.
- The international conference "10 Years of Change in China for Freedom of Religion" was held in Oslo on the 4th and 5th November and brought together international researchers who have viewed developments in China from varying perspectives.
- Evaluation: The conference was followed by half a day of evaluation of Oslo Coalition's activities in relation to FORB in China since its foundation in 1998.
For a report of the conference and the evaluation, see here
In 2008:
- The Third International Conference on Religion and Law
Beijing 30th May - 2nd June
This was the 3rd and last conference in the series. For the programme, click here . Background: In October of 2004, the Oslo Coalition participated in the first conference held in the People’s Republic of China expressly on the theme of religion and the state. The conference was very successful and provided significant opportunities for dialogue with leading experts and government officials in China responsible for these issues. In December 2006, the Oslo Coalition hosted a follow-up conference on “Law and Religion in Transitional Societies: Comparative Approaches to the Rule of Law.” This 2008 conference in Beijing was co-funded by the Oslo Coalition and the Institute for Global Engagement. - A two-day delegational tour to Mongolia was carried out by two representatives from Oslo Coalition working group on China, in connection with the conference above. During their visit to Ulan Bator they interviewed the religious heads of six monasteries or institutions in the capital region. In their conversations with them we covered a broad range of subjects giving us a better understanding of the overall situation of the Buddhists in the country and the challenges faced by a religious community emerging from seven decades of virtual obliteration while facing stiff competition from apparently more resourceful Christian denominations. See report here.
- The book “Freedom of Religion in China: Norwegian Experiences from the Human Rights Dialogue” (see 2007 below) by Koen Wellens, China expert at the Center for Human Rights, will be completed. The book will consist of 8 chapters, 4 of which are already written.
In 2007:
The Oslocoalition project group for China,wishing to consolidate the information collected on these trips, and in cooperation with the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights China program, decided to write a report on the status of religious minorities in China. The report turned into a book of which four chapters were rewritten in 2007. This together with the translation of selected extracts from the Oslo Coalition deskbook for Facilitating Freedom of Religion or Belief much needed background material for a development of freedom of religion in China.
Please note: some of the links below link to our old website. If you should open an older document, please use the arrows on your browser to come back to this website.
Earlier reports:
- The conference "Law and religion in Transitional Societies", Oslo December 2006 (pdf)
- The conference "The First World Buddhist Forum", Hangzhou, Zhousan and Shanghai, April 2006 (pdf)
- The Beijing conference: “Comparative Approaches to Regulating Religion and Belief: State Authority and the Rule of Law”, October 2004 (doc). For the programme and list of lecturers, click here (pdf)
- The Oslo Coalition delegational visit to China, June-July 2004 (doc)
- The Oslo Coalition delegational visit to China, November 2002
- The Oslo Coalition delegational visit to China in 2000
