Religion under scrutiny? China expands religious scrutiny to hospitals, schools

Religious belief is reportedly becoming part of routine background checks in parts of China. Public hospitals in Chengdu have asked employees to disclose their faith, while education authorities are collecting information on the religious backgrounds of students and their families. According to The Epoch Times, leaked internal documents and people familiar with the practices indicate that a public hospital in Chengdu required permanent staff, contracted workers and temporary employees to disclose whether they followed a religion. The hospital reportedly described the exercise as a comprehensive survey of employees’ religious beliefs, linked to requirements for the “regular investigation of ideological, ethnic,…