北京奥运会将尊重宗教信仰自由

范华平

Nov. 9—China Thursday slammed media reports as “a total rumor” that the Bible would be prohibited at next years Beijing Olympic Games.

The Catholic News Agency published a report the Bible will be banned in the Olympic Village, citing an Italian newspaper.

“As far as I know, Chinese religious affairs authorities and the Beijing Olympic organizers did not and would not issue such a rule and this is a total rumor,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Thursday.

“According to the Chinese laws, foreigners are allowed to bring in religious objects or materials, be it in print or audio or video, for personal use.” And there would be no change in the legal decree during the Olympic Games next year, Liu said at a regular press briefing Thursday.

Rights of religious freedom in China, which also apply to foreigners who live in the country, are protected by the Chinese Constitution and relevant laws, the spokesman said.

Li Zhanjun, director of the Beijing Olympics media center Thursday also condemned the report, saying it was an intentional distortion of the truth.

Li said that a religious service center will be set up in the Olympic Village and religious services, from Christian, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu to Buddhist, will be available to athletes next summer.

A temporary Catholic church will also be set up in the Olympic Village and all churches in Beijing will be open to Catholic visitors, Liu Bainian, vice-president of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, said.

Religious services and information will be available in Beijing and each of the six co-host cities, Ye Xiaowen, director of the State Administration of Religious Affairs, told China Daily last month.

China has so far published more than 42 million copies of the Bible in various languages, according to Ye.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman added: “There are always some people who do not want to see China host a successful Olympic Games. This is against the wishes of the people all over the world, as this is a grand gala for them”.

11月9日——中国于星期四抨击媒体关于明年北京奥运会禁止使用《圣经》的报道“纯属谣言”。

天主教通讯社引用意大利一家报纸的文章，发表了一篇“奥运村禁用《圣经》”的报道。

中国外交部发言人刘建超星期四表示，“据我所知，中国主管宗教部门和北京奥组委没有也不可能做出所谓奥运村禁用《圣经》的规定。”

刘建超在星期四的例行记者招待会说，“根据中国的法律，外国人进入中国国境可以携带本人自用的宗教印刷品、宗教音像制品和其他宗教用品。”这项法律条文在明年的奥运会上也不会有所改变。

发言人说，在中国宗教信仰自由受到宪法和相关法律的保护，这同样适用于在华的外国人。

北京奥组委新闻中心主任李占军谴责这种报道是蓄意歪曲事实。

李表示，奥运村将建立宗教服务中心，同时，明年夏天将设立基督教、天主教、穆斯林、犹太教、印度教和佛教的宗教服务设施。

中国天主教爱国会副秘书长刘百年透露，奥运村将设立一个临时教堂，北京的所有教堂都向天主教参观者开放。

国管局负责宗教事务的管理部门总干事叶小文上个月告诉《中国日报》的记者，北京和六个主办城市都会提供宗教服务和宗教信息。

叶说，目前，中国已出版了不同语言的《圣经》42,000,000本。

外交部发言人补充道：“世界上确实有一些人，不希望中国能够成功举办奥运会。这种做法是同有着善良意愿的世界人民作对，因为这次奥运会是世界人民的盛会。”