Archbishop says encouraged after China visit

BEIJING, Oct 23 (Reuters) The head of the world's Anglican church said today he had been surprised and encouraged by changing official attitudes towards religion in China but that he was still concerned about freedom of worship.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said he had raised questions about arrested Christians, the death penalty, the environment, Tibet and relations with the Vatican during his trip to China, which only allows worship through state-controlled churches.

''We're a long way past the Cultural Revolution -- we're a long way past a situation where there is a systematic attempt to block out or expurgate religion,'' the spiritual leader of 77 million Anglicans worldwide told a news conference in Beijing.

''There's a record, over the last 20 or 30 years, of harassment of religious minorities that have been unhappy and it is recognised as a problem and embarrassment by many people in high positions,'' he said after his first visit to the country, aimed at promoting religious dialogue.

The officially atheist Communists, who have run China for the last half a century, say religious freedom is enshrined in the constitution and citizens are free to attend ceremonies at churches, mosques and temples under state control.

International rights groups have accused China of jailing Catholic priests and Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns for remaining loyal to the Pope and the Dalai Lama, respectively.

A Protestant minister, Cai Zhuohua, was jailed for three years in 2005 for illegally printing Bibles.

Williams said he had brought up Cai and other similar cases with Chinese officials, though the only response he got was a request for more information.

''The assumption is that group activity needs to be coordinated with the authority, the unique and exclusive authority, of the state, and that's a general problem,'' he said.

''The state of current regulation means it's very difficult for officialdom to present absolutely clear distinctions between an orthodox, ordinary, Protestant, evangelical house group and a cult.'' China has 40-80 million active Christians evenly divided between state-run and underground churches, experts believe.

Beijing has taken steps to soften its reputation on religious tolerance and has held talks with the Vatican and the Dalai Lama's envoys.

Chinese leaders have long feared religion as a force for subversion but have sought to control rather than stifle religion in a post-Mao Zedong society where an ideological vacuum has spawned corruption and eroded ethics.

Williams said he had been surprised by how full churches he had visited had been.

The official church appeared to be making an effort to reach out to underground groups and the distinction between the two in many areas was blurred, Williams said, adding that relaxing of controls would take time.

''You don't turn the ocean liner around in five minutes.'' REUTERS SSC RN1055