A Mormon Temple in Shanghai?
Yang, Fenggang
APRIL 6, 2020 / 8:09 AM / UPDATED 15 HOURS AGO
Mormon church to open first temple in mainland China
3 MIN READ
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(Reuters) - The Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon church, plans to open its first temple in mainland China at a time when Beijing has been clamping down steadily on religious freedoms.
FILE PHOTO: A flag flies at half mask outside the world headquarters of the Mormon Church for Thomas S. Monson, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (The Mormon church) in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S., January 3, 2018. REUTERS/George Frey
The temple in the eastern Chinese city of Shanghai will help fill a gap left by renovation work since last July at the church’s temple in Hong Kong, Russell M. Nelson, president of the church, announced on Sunday.
He also said seven other temples would open, including one in Dubai, its first in the Middle East.
“In Shanghai, a modest, multipurpose meeting place will provide a way for Chinese members to continue to participate in ordinances of the temple,” Nelson said.
“Because we respect the laws and regulations of the People’s Republic of China, the Church does not send proselytizing missionaries there; nor will we do so now,” he said.
A former cardiac surgeon, Nelson has spent time in China, studied Mandarin and was granted an honorary professorship by China’s Shandong University School of Medicine.
In January, the church sent two planeloads of protective medical equipment to the Children’s Medical Center in Shanghai to help manage the coronavirus outbreak.
No official figure is available for the number of Mormons in China.
China’s constitution guarantees religious freedom but under President Xi, Jinping Beijing has tightened restrictions on religions seen as a challenge to the authority of the ruling Communist Party.
The government has cracked down on underground churches, both Protestant and Catholic, and has rolled out legislation to increase oversight of religious education and practices.
Chinese law requires that places of worship register and submit to government oversight, but some have declined to register and are known as “house” or “underground” churches.
The Chinese government formally recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism.
“Expatriate and Chinese congregations will continue to meet separately. The Church’s legal status there remains unchanged,” Nelson said.
“In an initial phase of facility use, entry will be by appointment only. The Shanghai Temple will not be a temple for tourists from other countries,” he said.
In 2018, the Vatican and China signed an agreement on the appointment of Roman Catholic bishops, a breakthrough on an issue that for decades fuelled tensions between the Holy See and Beijing and thwarted efforts toward diplomatic relations.
Reporting by Keith Zhai, Editing by Timothy Heritage
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
David Schak
Very interesting. I assume that the church is formally recognized by the Chinese government. Is it recognized as a Protestant church or under its own designation? The last I heard, Mormons exchew the label “Protestant,” and some Protestants deny that it is even Christian.
David
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Noam Urbach
Noam
David Schak
Thanks Noam,
Interesting that it is not recognized yet is allowed to build a temple. Holding services is one thing, even building a chapeI, but a temple is on a very different level. I read back in HCT’s period that both LDS and Russian Orthodox officials were trying to get Chinese authorities to recognize them. As the LDS is not recognized as its own separate entity, I wonder if the Chinese authorities don’t simply regard them as Protestant, perhaps on the basis that they use the same words for God—shen or shangdi as Protestants do.
David
Pierre Vendassi
David Schak
Pierre,
You make some very good points. I have just one comment. While it is true that there are similarities between LDS and Catholic in terms of organization and their claims about the priesthood coming directly from God, the basic LDS value structure is Calvinist Protestant—or maybe that should read American.
David
Andre Laliberte
David Alexander Palmer
李林洲
在中国目前是没有承认东正教的，正常情况下是不会批准建立教堂和政府登记为合法宗教活动场所。但如果在东北个别城市东正教信徒多的地方，俄罗斯官方能出面要求，可能会变通批准的。但在其他地方是不可能的。像上述的特例，中国对俄罗斯有战略合作需求，政府层面沟通会比较有效果。
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David Schak
李林洲，I’m aware that local authorities can, within limits, informally implement policy based on local considerations, but I take it that what yousay about locations in the northeast are more formal than that, and that, for historical reasons, there is a case for allowing Eastern Orthodox persons to practice their religion. However that would not apply to the situation with LDS in Shanghai. There are no historical connections. And yet they are allowed to build a temple. It should be understood that temples are not for normal worship but are places where rituals are performed out of sight of the public. Yet it would be most interesting to know what the quid pro quo was. Former Ambassador Huntsman was LDS, but this did not happen during his tenure.
David
Steven Hu
Andre Laliberte
McCarthy, Susan
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Susan K. McCarthy
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Subject: [External] Re: [ChineseSSSR] A Mormon Temple in Shanghai?
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McCarthy, Susan
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Subject: [External] RE: Re: [ChineseSSSR] A Mormon Temple in Shanghai?
Zhu, Xiaohong(Rachel)
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朱晓红 博士 哲学学院宗教学系副教授 复旦大学 上海邯郸路220号 200433 办公室：光华西主楼2515 电话：55664220 手机：13788954329 Rachel ZHU Xiaohong PhD Religious Studies Dept. School of Philosophy Fudan University Shanghai, 200433 office：2515 Guanghua West Building O:8621-55664220 M: 13788954329
David Schak
Rachel,
You describe Sunday services, which are a normal form of worship for all. Do you know if temple rituals such as marriages, baptisms for the dead, etc. are performed in the building?
David
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朱晓红
博士
哲学学院宗教学系副教授复旦大学上海邯郸路220号 200433
办公室：光华西主楼2515
电话：55664220
手机：13788954329 Rachel ZHU Xiaohong PhD Religious Studies Dept. School of Philosophy Fudan University Shanghai, 200433 office：2515
Guanghua West Building O:8621-55664220 M: 13788954329
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Fuk Tsang Ying (CRS)
Yang, Fenggang
This is not so simple. The Mormon Headquarters do not deny it. What kind of secret deal has been made? What Mormons have to do to gain this access?
https://www.voachinese.com/a/mormon-temple-mainland-china/5367321.html
宗教自由还是外交统战 ? 摩门教获准在中国建首座圣殿
2020年4月10日 21:57
· 易林
摩门教在美国盐湖城的圣殿
华盛顿 —
“说实话，我没想到我有生之年能看到这一幕”，曾经生活在中国的摩门教教徒迈克·邦德(Mike Bond)笑着说。
“我的第一反应是觉得不太可能”，中国宗教问题专家杨凤岗对美国之音表示。
“我的第一感觉, 这可能是利用宗教做外交统战的一部分”，对华援助协会会长付希秋说。
他们谈到的是摩门教总会第17任总会长罗素·尼尔森（Russell M. Nelson）近日宣布的一则消息。
尼尔森在4月5日宣布，耶稣基督后期圣徒教会(Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, LSD)，也就是人们所熟知的摩门教，计划修建八座圣殿，其中一座将坐落在中国上海，成为中国大陆第一座摩门教圣殿。
此前，距离中国大陆最近的圣殿位于香港，中国教徒需要前往那里进行宗教活动。然而从2019年开始，香港圣殿关闭三年，进行修缮。
美国之音联系摩门教位于犹他盐湖城的总部，其公关部门表示“发言人和教会领袖暂时不对这个问题进行评论”。
在摩门教的中文网站上，美国之音找到了关于上海圣殿更多的信息。
“仅限於持有效推荐书的耶稣基督后期圣徒教会之中国成员才被允许进入”，LSD中文网站解释到，“使用此设施的最初阶段，进入前需要预约。这个设施并非旅游景点，即使是持有推荐书的教会成员游客，也谢绝参观”。
与此同时，会长尼尔森表示，摩门教在中国的法律地位不变，外籍和中国教徒仍会分开从事宗教活动。
“我们尊重中国的法律法规，所以教会目前并不向，也不打算向中国派传教士”，他说。
现年93岁的尼尔森曾是一名心脏外科医生。根据摩门教网站介绍，他能够说中文，并且帮助中国发展了心内直视手术。
圣殿仅供中国信徒使用
“我的理解是，这坐圣殿位于中国，使用中文，专供中国信徒使用，” 邦德说。
邦德在2009到2011年参加交换留学项目，在中国度过了三个暑假。他告诉美国之音，在大陆时他只参加了外籍信徒每周日的聚会，无法去圣殿。“其中两个暑假我掏腰包购票去了香港，当然也拜访了圣殿”。
“圣殿与教堂不同”，邦德说，“它跟我们每周日去的礼拜会所不一样”。
“我们认为圣殿是举行特别仪式的地方，人们能在那里获得灵感，与上帝建立重要的连结关系”。
中国宗教问题专家、普渡大学社会学教授杨凤岗对美国之音说，任何宗教在这个时候在中国能被接纳，都是一个积极的事情。
“也许一个宗教在中国能够被接纳，会影响到其他宗教也会被接纳。如果真的是有这个事情，这是令人鼓舞的“，他说。
他补充道，目前他还没有在中国政府网站上看到这个消息，所以关于这件事情的落实还有待进一步观察。与此同时，他说，还要关注一些具体的问题。
“如果在这个过程中摩门教做出了很多的许诺，妥协，那问题就比较多了“，杨凤岗说。他表示如果摩门教为了被中国政府接纳，像梵蒂冈一样与中国政府签署协议，做出一系列的调整，那这可能又有另一层意思。
“摩门教在这个时候被接纳，他们做了哪些许诺，将会在哪些方面配合中国政府做事情，包括在全球一些舆论的影响，我们都有待观察”，他说。
在摩门教中文网站对上海圣殿的说明中，有几点值得注意。说明提到：“摩门教在中国的法律地位没有改变”，“外籍成员和本地中国成员将继续分开聚会”，“教会保持政治中立”，“教会现在不派遣，也没有计划将来派遣传教士来中华人民共和国传教”，以及“在主的屋宇內的教导与中国传统文化和价值观是一致的”。
目前在摩门教网站上没有找到统计中国摩门教徒的数量。
宗教环境收紧
在习近平上台之后，中国的宗教环境明显收紧。
根据自由之家在2017年初发布的一份题为《中国灵魂争夺战》的报告，自2012年以来，中国共产党对宗教的控制和迫害整体呈上升趋势，至少一亿信仰者宗教群体面临 “高度”或“非常高度”的受迫害危险。
《环球时报》2017年7月援引中国国家宗教事务局局长王作安写道：“要用社会主义核心价值观来引领、用中华优秀传统文化来教育宗教界人士和信教群众”。
对华援助协会的会长付希秋说，他认为摩门教此时被允许在上海建圣殿，是为了服从中国国家整体外交利益而做出的例外。
“摩门教在美国的外交界影响力很大，中共外交的官员，宗教政策的官员，统战部的官员也应该都很清楚”，付希秋说。
他以前共和党总统候选人、现任犹他州参议员罗姆尼，前美国驻华大使洪博培（Jon Huntsman)为例，指出美国政坛很多有影响力的人物是摩门教徒。
“我认为这是利用宗教做外交统战的一部分，不是实际意义上宗教政策的变动”，他对美国之音说。
中国宗教问题专家杨凤岗说，希望宗教领袖们也要考虑到宗教自由的平等性。“如果一个一个宗教得到批准的话，实际上保持了不平等。这个其实是不利于健康的发展”，他说。
中国目前承认的五大合法宗教分别是佛教、道教、伊斯兰教、天主教、基督新教，并不包括摩门教。杨凤岗表示，中国宗教方面的法律很混乱，宪法保障所有宗教都有合法地位，然而《宗教事务条例》又对各个宗教的合法性有不同规定。“你说它合法他就合法，说它不合法它就不合法，就看当地官员怎么运作”。
而对于邦德来说，他很庆幸中国信徒将有与他一样的机会。
“圣殿是我信仰的根基…中国大陆的信徒将拥有我在美国所享有的同样的机会，这真的很棒”。
From: "Chine...@googlegroups.com" <chine...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Fuzeng Xing <yin...@cuhk.edu.hk>
Reply-To: "Chine...@googlegroups.com" <chine...@googlegroups.com>
Date: Friday, April 10, 2020 at 3:09 AM
To: "Chine...@googlegroups.com" <chine...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [ChineseSSSR] A Mormon Temple in Shanghai?
Here is the clarification of Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Ethnic & Religious Affairs on 9 April.
Yang, Fenggang
https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2020/04/29/plans-an-lds-temple/
Plans for an LDS temple in Shanghai may have hit an obstacle
(Photo courtesy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) President Russell M. Nelson announces eight new temples during the Sunday afternoon session of General Conference on April 5, 2020.
· Published:
3 hours ago
Updated: 2 hours ago
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may have hit a bump in the road — somewhere between a pebble and a boulder — with its temple plans in Shanghai.
On April 5, during the final session of the faith’s General Conference, church President Russell M. Nelson stunned believers with the news that among its new temples would be one in China.
Nelson, who has long-standing ties to Shanghai, was careful in how he described the holy space to be established there.
“In Shanghai, a modest, multipurpose meeting place will provide a way for Chinese members to continue to participate in ordinances of the temple … for them and their ancestors,” Nelson told his global audience. It was prompted in part by the closure of the Hong Kong Temple for renovation.
He noted the church’s legal status in mainland China “remains unchanged” — it is not legally recognized — and it will not send missionaries to that country.
“In an initial phase of facility use, entry will be by appointment only,” he said. “The Shanghai Temple will not be a temple for tourists from other countries.”
Within days of Nelson’s remarks, though, the Shanghai Municipal Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau said twice on its website it knew nothing about a “Mormon temple” being built in the city of more than 24 million people.
In response to a question posed on Weibo (China’s Twitter), the bureau first wrote, “foreigners are not allowed to establish religious organizations or areas of religious activity within China’s borders” and “the news that the American Mormon Church announced that it is building a temple came only from the American side.”
Later, the Shanghai organization repeated the statement about foreigners, insisting it “knew nothing about [the American Mormon Church … building a so-called ‘temple’ in Shanghai].”
This second statement added, “wishful thinking, not based in reality,” according to an independent translation.
Neither statement, however, indicates that the temple can’t or won’t be built.
The temple flap was noted in Foreign Policy’s April 22 newsletter.
For its part, the church declined to comment on the Shanghai bureau’s statements.
Every major Chinese city — Shanghai is the nation’s largest — has a “religious affairs bureau,” said Frederick Crook, director of research at The China Group in Alpine, who has lived in Shanghai. “It’s a very powerful organization that controls all religious activities in Shanghai.”
Any negotiations between Americans and Chinese can be tricky, said Stephen Markscheid, a business consultant in Chicago and a China expert.
“It is not unusual for the Western party to think they’ve got a deal and for the Chinese to deny it,” Markscheid said. “It happens all the time.”
As long as “you don’t draw attention to yourself,” he said, “you’d have no problem.”
Marco Marazzi, an Italy-based attorney who has lived and worked in Shanghai for many years, has spent his career helping companies across the world do business in China.
He points out that cultural differences and varied expectations often present problems in trying to make agreements.
“It is even more complicated if you are negotiating with the government,” Marazzi said in a phone interview. “You have to be sure you are talking to the right person — which bureau, who they represent — but if you ask, they might see that as impolite.”
There can be “thousands of issues to deal with every day,” Marazzi added, especially now “with the COVID-19 crisis, companies going bankrupt, the economy slowing down and China’s trade war with the United States.”
The temple announcement also came amid Beijing’s two-year repression of religions.
“China’s government is ratcheting up a crackdown on Christian congregations in Beijing and several provinces, destroying crosses, burning Bibles, shutting churches and ordering followers to sign papers renouncing their faith,” The Associated Press reported in 2018 of allegations from pastors and a watchdog group. “The campaign corresponds with a drive to ‘Sinicize’ religion by demanding loyalty to the officially atheist Communist Party and eliminating any challenge to its power over people’s lives.”
On Tuesday, the U.S Commission on International Religious Freedom issued its annual report, which included this statement: “Based on the Chinese government’s systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom, USCIRF again finds that China merits designation in 2019 as a ‘country of particular concern.’”
For years, the LDS Church has managed to survive in the world’s most populous nation — with a history of hostility to religion — by quietly following China’s rules.
In Beijing, for instance, Chinese and expatriate members meet in separate spaces in a high-rise with no signage of Latter-day Saint services there.
As attendees gather for their separate weekly services, the branch (congregation) president reads an official statement from the pulpit, explaining to any new members or visitors that proselytizing is forbidden. So is distributing church literature or members of the two groups mingling.
The church organized its first branches for Chinese members in 2004, according to independent Latter-day Saint demographer Matt Martinich, and today has a presence in most of China’s major cities.
“There appear to be at least 10,000 Latter-day Saints in the [People’s Republic of China], the vast majority of whom are likely PRC citizens,” Martinich writes on his blog, ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com. “Shanghai is one of the three major church centers in the PRC for both foreign and PRC citizens, the others being Beijing and Guangzhou.”
Periodically, a representative of China’s government attends services in Beijing, members say, and reports back to party bosses what happens there.
Members in China wonder if similar checks will take place in a temple. Will an undercover representative show up regularly for religious rituals there to observe the ceremonies and relay that to government officials?
The Utah-based faith reported in 2010 that it was engaged in "high-level" talks that were "expected to lead to 'regularized' [church] operations" in China.
“A senior representative of the People’s Republic of China huddled with the faith’s governing First Presidency in Salt Lake City on Aug. 24,” a church spokesman said at the time. “That session came on the heels of meetings in February and May in Beijing initiated by the Chinese representative and attended by Mormon apostle Dallin H. Oaks.”
A church spokesman said then that the “church deeply appreciates the courtesy of the Chinese leadership in opening up a way to better define how the church and its members can proceed with daily activities, all in harmony with Chinese law."
Nearly 10 years later, some of the credit for the planned Shanghai Temple likely is due to Nelson, a former cardiac surgeon, who long has had a warm spot in his heart for China. In 1980, he trained doctors in China, and it was there, in 1985, that he performed his last open-heart surgery.
In 2015, he was honored by physicians he trained at the Shandong University School of Medicine. And, in January, the church sent two planeloads of protective medical equipment to the Children’s Medical Center in Shanghai to help deal with the coronavirus outbreak.
(Photo courtesy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Volunteers with Latter-day Saint Charities and Project Hope partnered to distribute medical supplies in Shanghai to combat the coronavirus.
Nelson has promised that the church will continue following all China’s rules governing religion.
The Shanghai temple will be limited “to Chinese [church] members. .. holding a valid recommend,” the church’s website says. “These Chinese members will have a membership record in the China Administrative Unit of the church or will reside outside of China but hold a valid PRC passport.”
The Chinese government recognizes five religious groups: Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, Muslims and Taoists (the latter being the only native Chinese faith; the others all were imported). But only their homegrown versions are registered — their organizational connections to foreign churches are not permitted.
Mormonism, which did not break from other forms of Christianity but rather sees itself as the restoration of Jesus' original church, does not fit into any of those groups. Its headquarters is in the United States.
Despite its unofficial status, the LDS Church “has built a strong relationship of trust with the People’s Republic of China by always respecting the laws and traditions of that country,” the church’s website says. “The church teaches its members in each country to obey, honor, and sustain the law, to be good parents and exemplary citizens, and to make positive contributions to society.”
Latter-day Saint temple ceremonies in China “would be consistent with traditional Chinese culture and values,” the site says. “This includes positive emphasis to strengthen marriage and family, honor ancestors, encourage family and clan histories, and nurture character, virtuous moral standards, and traditional values.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, though, the Shanghai Temple is the only recently announced one not mentioned on the church’s official online tally of established or planned temples.
David Schak
Thanks, Fenggang. Appreciated.
Yang, Fenggang
A long, indepth article by CNN:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/06/asia/mormon-church-latter-day-saints-china-intl-hnk/index.html
A statue of the angel Moroni, a key character in Mormon theology, seen on top of the Hong Kong Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kowloon, Hong Kong.
This US church with expansion in its DNA wants to open a temple in China
By James Griffiths, CNN
Updated 8:34 PM ET, Sat June 6, 2020
Hong Kong (CNN)Every Sunday, when members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) meet in the conference room of a blue-glass skyscraper in downtown Shanghai, one person always takes a seat right at the back, by the doors.
They are there to intercept the wrong person coming in. This is not to protect any religious mysteries; Mormonism is not a particularly secretive faith and usually seeks out new converts, but because if a Chinese passerby were to join the service, it could mean all those taking part were breaking the law.
There are only five state-sanctioned religious associations in China, all under the tight control of the Communist Party. Others walk a delicate legal tightrope, with the threat of a crackdown always hanging over their heads. While the government tolerates foreigners practicing their religion and attending services together, it takes a hard line against anything approaching proselytising or missionary work, a prohibition the Mormon Church takes seriously.
"We have to ask to see if they have a foreign passport to attend," said Jason, a lifelong member of the Church who worked in Shanghai for almost a decade until relocating back to the United State in 2018. "I have frequently been this person watching the doors and on many occasions I have sadly had to turn away Chinese citizens who wished to worship with us."
And that is during the good times. In recent years, the Chinese government has increased its regulation of religious worship, launched crackdowns against underground churches and instituted new restrictions on those faiths which operate in the grey area of only catering to foreigners.
So the Church's announcement on April 5, that it plans to open a temple in Shanghai, the first ever in mainland China, was seen by some as a bold decision.
The Church claims it won't change anything, but the idea that a US church with expansion in its DNA could open an official temple in China is likely to be controversial -- and may not be allowed by Beijing. Already, authorities in Shanghai have suggested that the announcement was made without their prior approval, even as experts said the Church would likely never have revealed the plans without a clear go ahead.
In Salt Lake City, Utah, the spiritual headquarters of the US-based Church, Jason "could hardly believe" the news.
"I couldn't have imagined that we would ever have a temple in Shanghai at this time," he said. "Immediately, my WeChat started lighting up as we were all expressing joy and excitement with our China friends."
Jason is a pseudonym. Like several other current members of the Church interviewed for this story, he requested anonymity to speak about its functioning in China without the permission of Church leadership.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints declined multiple requests for an interview for this story, referring CNN to a website about its operations in China and President Russell Nelson's statement on April 5.
Members watch as Russell M. Nelson President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter -Day Saints, makes an announcement in January 2017. Nelson said this April that the Church will open a temple in Shanghai.
In the beginning
Founded in upstate New York by Joseph Smith in 1830, it took the Mormon Church some 117 years to grow from six initial members to its first million. Today, it claims more than 16.5 million members globally, with most outside the US.
While the true size of the church is debated (some say they include members who are no longer active) one thing is clear: the massive growth of the Church has been achieved through the work of thousands of missionaries.
Smith said he received a revelation in February 1831, in which God told his followers to "go forth in my name, every one of you" and "build up my church in every region."
That is how the Church arrived in China over a century and a half ago.
Its start in the country, however, was less than auspicious. In 1853, its then-leader Brigham Young dispatched three missionaries to British-controlled Hong Kong, then a common staging ground for those seeking to spread the gospel in China.
When they arrived, however, they realized that China was in the midst of a bloody civil war, making travel outside of Hong Kong exceptionally dangerous. Their reception in the city was not much better, as the English-language press ran lurid articles about the Mormon faith and accused the faith of blasphemy. Their funds running out, they struggled even to find a Chinese teacher.
"Our staying here to learn the Chinese language without one friend or one possible recourse to us appears totally impractable (sic)," the missionaries wrote in a letter to church leaders as, less than two months after they had arrived in Asia, they boarded a ship bound for California, historian Stephen Prince recounts in his biography of one of the missionaries, Hosea Stout.
A sign outside the Hong Kong China Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kowloon, Hong Kong.
It was not until 1949 that the Church established a permanent presence in Hong Kong, with the intention again of using the city to get a foothold into China.
"Nearly one billion of our Father's children live in China," then-President Spencer Kimball said in 1978. "If we could only make a small beginning in every nation, soon the converts among each kindred and tongue could step forth as lights to their own people."
Beginning in 1980, Church leadership began reaching out to the Chinese authorities to try to get permission to operate in the country, and in 1986, small church branches -- meeting houses -- were organized in Beijing and Xi'an, though only those holding foreign passports were permitted to attend. According to the Church, today there are around 10 meeting houses across mainland China. By comparison, there are around the same number in Hong Kong alone, and more than 50 meeting houses in self-governed Taiwan, where the Church claims around 61,000 members.
Despite this apparent lack of progress, Church leaders say they have built a strong relationship with the Chinese authorities, and in 2010 they announced moves to "regularize" their activities in the country.
"The Church deeply appreciates the courtesy of the Chinese leadership in opening up a way to better define how the Church and its members can proceed with daily activities, all in harmony with Chinese law," spokesman Michael Otterson said at the time. "They have become thoroughly familiar with us through numerous contacts, and they have seen how we and our members operate in China. They know that we are people of our word when it comes to respecting Chinese law and cultural expectations."
Currently, two types of Mormon worship are permitted in China: services for foreign nationals, and services for Chinese nationals who converted while overseas. The two are kept separate, and the Church is careful to avoid any sign of seeking to expand its Chinese membership within the country. Unlike with other countries in which it operates, however, the church does not provide membership figures for China.
Building trust
The Chinese Communist Party has always had an uneasy relationship with religion. The state is officially atheist, and the tens of millions of Party members are barred from holding religious beliefs.
Despite a constitutional commitment to religious freedom, only a handful of faiths are permitted to operate, each under umbrella organizations with strong links to the Communist Party.
Two are considered domestic faiths -- Buddhism and Taoism -- while the others are foreign religions, with varying historical pedigrees in the country, Islam, Protestantism and Catholicism, though Chinese Catholic organizations operate separately to Rome.
Other religions fall into a grey area: the State Council says it is "open" to foreign organizations -- but only if they respect China's sovereignty and principle of religious self-administration.
In practice, this means religious bodies' first loyalty must be to the Communist Party, not a foreign Church leadership. This point has caused a long-standing rift with the Vatican since the establishment of the People's Republic, and Chinese Catholics operate separately to the global church, though some progress has been made towards rapprochement in recent years.
Despite this, religious practice is on the rise. But alongside this growth in belief has come increased suspicion of "foreign" religions, particularly Islam and Christianity (though both have long-histories in China). Muslims in the far-western region of Xinjiang have had their religious practices strictly curtailed, while underground Christian churches, once broadly tolerated, have been cracked down upon.
Indeed, around the time Nelson was making the announcement of the new temple, International Christian Concern, a US-based advocacy group, said that believers holding Easter services online were raided by the authorities. Local police could not be reached for comment, the Early Rain Covenant Church which organized the service is considered an "underground," or unlicensed, operation and has previously been ordered to cease activities, according to Human Rights Watch.
"The Chinese government is very suspicious of religion as a vehicle for potential political opposition," said William Nee, a Hong Kong-based researcher for Amnesty International.
A statue of Brigham Young, second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stands in the center of Salt Lake City, Utah with the Mormon Temple spires in the background.
Pierre Vendassi, an expert on Christianity in China, said that the government "is mainly trying to take back the control over religious activities, and uses full force to do so, after a period of time when people could almost freely opt for unregistered, unmonitored religious activities, without facing any consequences, most of the time."
"Now the message is clear: either accept state control, monitoring and restrictions, or face state hostility," he said. "For the Christian activities, the purpose is to get house churches and Catholic underground church back under control."
As far as non-official faiths go, the Mormon Church is perhaps the gold standard for such a group in China. Current and former members, as well as outside observers, agreed that the Church is scrupulous about following Chinese law and avoiding anything that could be seen as proselytization.
Nee contrasted this with "other forms of Protestant Christianity or evangelical traditions coming out of the US, who have a much more aggressive or underground strategy for spreading the faith."
Sarah, a Mormon who worked as a university professor for several years in China, said she "did not tell people what church I belonged to or even if I belonged to a church."
"Some friends would ask me if I was Christian. I would say yes (but) we do not talk about it in China," she said. "They would nod and agree. That is as far as the conversation would go."
Marcelo Gameiro, a Church member living in Shanghai, said that he does not talk about the church "because it is against the law."
"But I don't hide (that) I am a member of the church," he added. "When I was in Huzhou, I used to go to the Hangzhou branch, it took me three hours to get there, and people started to notice I was going somewhere every Sunday dressed in a tie, so I did tell them where I was going with no problem, I just did not preach the gospel to anyone."
Sarah said she would "occasionally see Christian religious groups that would come in and rather openly flout the rules of China." American students would get scholarships in China and then try and convert their classmates.
"Several times I talked to them about it, I asked is this the right thing to do, are you making a good example," she said. "I heard from Chinese people who got rather angry because people would come from other countries and give away Bibles and start conversations about religion, and they would say we are not allowed to talk about this in China."
A screenshot of a dedicated website set up by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for members in China.
Playing the long game
John Wakefield, a now ex-Mormon who came to Hong Kong as a missionary in the 1980s and still lives in the city, said a big part of the Mormon religion is "we're going to convert the whole world" and that it's the fastest growing church in the world. "For them, numbers are really important," he said.
Another former Mormon, Bryce Bushman, who lived in China for almost four years, where he worked as an urban planner and designer, said that: "Mormon doctrine states that the LDS Church will eventually cover the whole Earth."
"It's considered a prophecy, something that is definitely going to happen at some point in the future," he said. "This gives both the church organization and the members of the church a kind of patient confidence that eventually every nation on earth will allow Mormon missionaries to proselyte and establish church congregations."
Mormon doctrine also permits "baptisms for the dead," allowing for the potential salvation of those already deceased, who can then "choose to accept or reject what has been done in their behalf." This alleviates somewhat the need to spread the word of Jesus to people before they die, has been stated as a motivation for some evangelical missionaries to take great risks in the name of saving souls.
This patience allows the Church to play the long game in China, confident that one day it will be able to bring its message to the country's vast population.
Josh Steimle, a practicing Mormon who lived in the Chinese city of Shenzhen for two years, said it "would have been so easy to pass along the URL to a Church website to someone who was curious, or give them a Book of Mormon, or a pamphlet about the Church."
"It was very difficult because we're a Church that believes in sharing what we believe, and we're always being encouraged to be good missionaries, and then to move to China and be told to not say a word about what we believe seems to be contrary to everything we've been taught," he added. "But it's all about the long term vs. the short term. If we shared our beliefs in violation of Chinese law, a few people might join our Church and then the Church would be shut down and kicked out of the country."
A woman decorates a grave during the Qing Ming festival, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day, at a cemetery in Shanghai on April 6, 2018. Traditional religious practice is growing in China, but the government tightly controls foreign faiths.
Temple doctrine
On paper, a temple should not be too much for the Chinese authorities to stomach.
In its description of the proposed temple in Shanghai, the Church is clear that this does not represent a climactic shift, nor will the Chinese temple be anything like the grand white stone buildings that dot many American cities.
"It would be modest in appearance. It would fit and be consistent with local custom and environment as a place of peace, tranquility, and dignity," the Church said of the proposed temple, which it said is intended to serve as a replacement for the Hong Kong building, which is currently closed for "long-planned maintenance and renovation."
It said that entry will be limited to Chinese members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- those who have converted overseas and returned to China -- adding that this "does not represent a change in the legal status" or the ability of missionaries to operate in China.
Unlike a regular church, Mormon temples are not open to non-members, and even those within the Church must be considered in good standing and receive a "recommend" from a Church official in order to enter.
While the Church appears to be downplaying the significance of a potential temple, all current and former members interviewed by CNN agreed that it would be a major achievement.
Steimle said that it was "difficult to express how big of a deal this is for me, personally, other members of the Church who have ties to China, and really to the entire Church membership worldwide. It's going to be a very small temple, but it's a huge thing for the Church."
Temples are where the most important and sacred Mormon ceremonies are carried out, including baptisms and "celestial marriages."
If established, the temple would not be the first active place of worship in Shanghai for an unofficial religion. In recent years, limited services have been held at the Ohel Rachel Synagogue, a historic building that predates the establishment of the Communist state. Most Jews in China however continue to practice behind closed doors, in arrangements similar to Mormon meeting houses.
Whether Mormons in China will be able to get nearer to that presence remains to be seen. In a statement issued two days after the Church's announcement, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs said that "according to the relevant laws and regulations of China, foreigners are not allowed to set up religious organizations or venues for religious activities in China."
The bureau denied any knowledge of plans for a temple in Shanghai, saying they were the "wishful thinking of the Mormon Church in the United States."
When CNN asked the Church about the current status of the project, a spokesman would only provide a link to the Church's website detailing plans for the temple and how it would operate. Church representatives would neither confirm nor deny the veracity of the original statement announcing the temple. However, since reporting on this story began, reference to the Shanghai temple has been removed from the Church's website, though it is still available on an archived version of the page.
Vendassi, the expert on religion in China, said that despite this apparent denial by the authorities, a temple may still end up opening at some point in the near future.
"If an LDS temple has been announced in Shanghai, I think it means they probably had a 'go' from Chinese officials to do so," Vendassi said. "Even if the government says it is a unilateral statement -- they actually have no interest in making a bilateral statement, because that would send a message of religious openness."
Nee, the Amnesty researcher, said that while there was no reason on paper for the Chinese authorities to object to a temple, he doubted whether officials "would be willing to understand the nuances of religions and their theologies" in order to permit such an institution.
As a uniquely American religion, Mormonism's hopes in China may also be hurt by worsening relations between Washington and Beijing. In the same month the Shanghai temple was announced, Senator Mitt Romney said the coronavirus pandemic had exposed China's "grand strategy for economic, military and geopolitical domination."
Romney is by no means alone in criticizing Beijing, but as the country's highest-ranking elected Mormon, his words may carry more weight with China's leaders when they are considering the Church's position there.
Over 20,000 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square sing a song together at first session of the 189th Annual General conference of the church at the Conference Center on April 6, 2019 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
China change
If the Mormon Church does have to exercise more patience before they open a temple in mainland China, what are a few more years or decades after a century and a half?
Responding to a question of when China would be open to missionaries in 1991, Elder Dallin Oaks -- a senior Church leader -- said that "I state my belief that China is already 'open' -- it is we who are closed ... We must understand their way of thinking ... observe their laws, and follow their example of patience."
Quoting Mormon scripture, Oaks added that God "will bring His purposes to pass in that great nation 'in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will'."
Mormons who lived in China spoke of the country with great fondness, despite the restrictions placed on how they worshipped there. Both Jason and Sarah keep in contact with Chinese friends over WeChat, and hope to visit again in future.
Sarah saw many parallels between China and the Mormon people, pointing in particular to the importance of venerating ancestors in Chinese culture.
"My ancestors are special to me," she said. "Many of them joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while our first leader, Joseph Smith, was a prophet. Like the people of China who went on the (Long March), my people also traveled across a continent in search of their dream."
Two of Jason's four children were born while the family was living in Shanghai, and the kids went to local Chinese schools. Jason and his wife made a concerted effort to integrate into Chinese life more than many other expats around them, doing "many things that few foreigners experience in China."
"We didn't speak any Chinese when we came but we did when we left," he said. This brought him closer both to locals and to other members of the foreign Mormon community who weren't as comfortable operating in China.
"I can't possibly begin to count the number of people we had over for dinners, the people we took shopping because everything the supermarket was unfamiliar, how many people we helped to simply get a Chinese phone number and register for WeChat, both for members of our Church and those who were not."
Both were optimistic about the future of the Church in China, but emphasized the need for patience, a view shared by Steimle.
"Great progress usually doesn't happen in a straight line," he said. "Although there have been crackdowns on religion in China, perhaps the obedience of our members and the trust and friendship our Church leadership has built up over the years by working openly with the Chinese government will help open doors."