2. China
Officially, there are five government-sanctioned religious organizations in China, the number two on our list of countries where religion is illegal – Buddhist Association of China, Chinese Taoist Association, Islamic Association of China, Three-Self Patriotic Movement and Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. Unofficially, even those are often subject to government crackdowns and restrictions the moment they are suspected of not toeing the party line. Other groups fare far worse and face severe penalties if discovered. Just like many other oppressive regimes, Chinese government feels threatened by any organization that rivals its control of its citizens and has gone through great pains to ensure all of them are banned from the country, including the Vatican and Dalai Lama. Chinese officials consider Falun Gong especially dangerous and there are many cases of reported unlawful imprisonment, forced conversion, and torture of its practitioners. Their latest attempt to curb the rise of Muslims in Xinjiang region is a ban on certain Islamic names, like Muhammad.
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