http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11020947 Is the Chinese Communist Party really beginning to give some leeway on social freedoms, or is it simply an attempt to control a demographic that will surely be important in the future?
Can you still call it communism when there's free religion? It's becoming a more advanced version of communism yes, but there will come a point when it isn't communism anymore by essence. It'll be nominal.
I would hardly call China "Communist" anymore. It's more like a really watered down version of Communism. When I went there last year, the only hints of Communism I saw was the internet filter (which is way easy to by-pass) and that propaganda was substantially cheaper to buy (Pins with the flag, t-shirts with the Communist star, etc.). Oh, and the picture of Chairman Mao in Tian An Men Square, but that's from the revolution.
Hey, I only called the party in charge the "Chinese Communist Party" because that's what they're called. Anyway, I'm glad that China is finally beginning to loosen their religious restrictions. But there isn't complete religious freedom yet. It seems that Chinese people are only allowed to join the government sanctioned church organizations.
This is actually, some of the few good news topics that comes up. Im chinese and christian, even though my relatives in china aren't, so this is fantastic!
Its good that the gov is doing it to increase the freedom of the people. But doing it just only now is kinda late =x