Chinese paper pleads for religious tolerance

An official Chinese newspaper made a strong plea for greater religious tolerance, and blamed Maoist radicals for persecution of believers. The Guangming Daily said many officials were still hostile to religion, when in fact religious people were generally patriotic and progressive. Religion cannot be represented by political means and will in any case disappear as living standards gradually rise, it added. Religion was suppressed during the Cultural Revolution, but the climate is now more tolerant, and some Christian, Muslim, and Buddhist places of worship have reopened.