ABSTRACT
China has launched a campaign of Sinicization of religions and tightened security measures on the usage of social media in the domain of religious dissemination and activity. In particular, Islam and Christianity are targeted as foreign threats to the sovereign power of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Whether the present religious persecutions in China are unprecedentedly worst since the Cultural Revolution is still under debate and observation. Nevertheless, this chapter argues that the contrast between the foreign journalists and state-run media covering religions in China indicates that the global rise of China does not lead to the same path of Western liberalism, secularization and free press. Rather considering that China is inherently suppressing religious quests or is hostile to freedom of press, this chapter argues that China’s emerging trend of securitizing media and co-opting religion are the consequence of the state-led national campaign of Sinicization. More importantly, the deprivation of free press and a lack of citizen journalism explain why journalism could not play a strong mediating role in dialogue and peacebuilding within religions in China.
