Jeffrey L. RICHEY
Since 1954 the Bureau of Religious Affairs has been responsible for protecting freedom of religious belief. Although the bureau has been instrumental in helping religious bodies restore properties lost or destroyed during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), it has also monitored so-called ethnic, politically suspect, or unregistered religious groups whose activities are perceived to be at odds with the maintenance of national unity.
Established in 1954, the Chinese national government’s Bureau of
