CCP still at it...

story.news.yahoo.com.../ap/20030611/ap_on_fe_st/china_club_crackdown_1

Shutting down a ballroom dance club??? Last time I was in Beijing the government encouraged older people to ballroom dance as a form of exercise. It was truly bizarre. I was in a park and their were all these elderly people dancing to "Jingle Bells." I am not joking, a song they danced to was "Jingle Bells."

Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring
Snowing and blowing up bushels of fun
Now the jingle hop has begun

Jingle bell
jingle bell
jingle bell rock
Jingle bells chime in jingle bell time
Dancing and prancing in Jingle Bell Square
In the frosty air...

Huh..whats the matter? You never enjoyed good old fashion fun?

Besides religions being illegal, I forgot to point out I was there in June, not December. Thank you, Advisor! Now I have "Jingle Bell Rock" playing in my head. Haha.

Bumping, I guess I have to add more words to this post to bump it up. Oh, nice. I just revisted this post to view my avatar. I am glad to see an edit button. Edit was only available to Moderators and Administrators where I used to go. Well done. This site is outstanding.

[Edited on 12-6-2003 by Freddie]

CCP would be much better as CPC, and though -as in all things in the PRC -there are many restrictions concerning religious assembly in China, religions are emphatically NOT banned. There are five official ones
Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism ( droll that they count the two Christian groups as two different religions -or maybe it's common sense)
you can see monks, churches, mosques... I know, I'm here, I've seen 'em

Go take a tour of any tourist location on the mainland and ask your guide what the local religion is. I am not trying to be belligerant. This was my personal experience. I know many people who are from China and some that are still in the mainland. If you know more than I do, please elaborate. Thanks.

Freddie,

To avoid any misunderstanding I'll just let you know that Estragon actually lives and works out in China and has done for some time.He is a scholar and well grounded in both language and customs of the region.
I expect you have a great deal of common experiences.

I wouldn't like to comment on the subject in hand.I simply don't know.I would suspect that by officially recognising the 5 religions mentioned by Estragon,The authorities are better able to monitor and,perhaps,exercise some degree of control.
Also it helps to differentiate between them and the Falun Gong(sorry if thats the wrong name,not my subject).

Thanks. I learn something knew everyday! I never lived in mainland.

One good point to make here is that groups are not being cracked down on by the CCP because of their actual exterior function. The CCP is cracking down on private groups that are not part of the Party. Religious and other groups have the ability to function as long as they have Party sanctioning. Now we see the Party cracking down on the growing Non-Party groups. It is not surprising that they would do this, if you have a Leninist system, or a decaying Leninist system, then the one Party is always going to push for a monopoly over groups that form in the country. It is dangerous to allow groups to organize without the Party having oversight. I think it will be interesting to see how this goes over in China though, I mean the article did say that a second round of crackdowns was being prepared. I think the result of all this will depend on how far the CCP is willing to push it.