China Hails Japan’s Dissolution of the Unification Church — Massimo Introvigne

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C hin a H ail sj apan’s D i sso luti o n of th e NE W SLETT ER Unifi cati o n Churc h Email address: by M assi m o I ntrovigne | M a r 3 1, 2026 | Featu red C h i na Yo ur ema i l add ress Th e C hin ese Co mmuni st Party ce l e b rates J apan’s co urt ruling a s a welco m e boost to its Sign u p gl o bal campaign again st an unwe l co m e church. by Massimo Introvigne

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China rejoices in the Tokyo High Court decision and its geopolitical consequences. Al- generated.

Ch i na reacted to the To kyo High Court’s dissol uti o n of th e U n ification Church with the enth us iasm of someone d iscoveri ng that a neighbo r, l ong suspected of m ora l l axity, has fi na lly begun to behave “p ro pe rly.” On M a rch 24, 2026, the Ch i na AntiXie J ia o Association issued a statement th at l ooks l i ke a congratu latory te legram m ixed with a recru itme nt b roch u re. “Xie j iao” is a n exp ressi o n that m a ny, i ncl u d i ng th e Ch i nese govern m e nt itse lf, translate as “evi l cults.” Sti ll, it h as been used in C hina to d esignate religions that the gove rn ment ha s pro h ibited si nce th e ea rly M i ddle Ages, a nd it l itera l ly means “orga n ization s s pread i ng heterodox tea c h i ngs .” M ost schola rs do not tra nsl ate “xi e jiao” a nd si m ply tra nsl ite rate th e express io n, as they do fo r “Qigo ng,” “Kung Fu,” a nd other qu intessentia l Chi n ese expressions.

The Ch ina Anti-Xi ej ia o Associatio n, wh ich p rou d ly descri bes itse lf as the la rgest a nticult associati on i n th e world, clai m s b ra nches i n every city, town, a n d remote vil lage of the Peo p le’s Rep u b l ic. Th is wou ld be i mpressive if it we re tru e, a n d even m ore i m pressive if it were actual ly a private o rga n izati o n . It i s not. It is a b ra nch of the Uni ted F ront, th e sa m e Un ited Fro nt that Xi J i n p ing on ce cal led th e Pa rty’s “magic wand” for co ntrol li ng Ch i n ese soci ety a n d the Ch i nese d ia spora a broa d . Wh e n the C h ina AntiXie J iao Associatio n spea ks, it is th e C CP speaki ng—j ust with a s l ightly d iffe rent l ogo .

The stateme nt begi n s by su m marizing a nd p ra isi ng the Tokyo H igh Cou rt’s d ecision . Sti l l, the rea l excitement comes when it ide ntifi es what it consid ers the h isto ri c b rea kthrough: for the fi rst ti m e, a rel igi ou s corporati on i n J a pa n ha s bee n d issolved not for cri mi nal offenses but for civil vio l ati on s a l o ne . Th e Associatio n writes, with the satisfa ction of a teache r watch i ng a sl ow stu dent fi nal ly grasp a l esson, “Th is case esta bl is h es the j u d icia l pri n cip le that ‘civi l violati on s a re suffici e nt gro u n ds fo r d issol ution,’ ma rking a c rucia l step forward for Ja pa n i n com bati ng econ o m i c h a rm co m m itted un de r the guise of re l igi on .”

The im pl icatio n is that Ja pa n, lo ng a ccu sed by C h i nese comm e ntators of be i ng too to lera nt, too de mocratic, too e na m o red with Western n oti ons of re ligiou s freed om ,

has fi na l ly take n a page fro m Be ij ing’s p l ayboo k. In Ch i na, re l igio u s o rga n izatio n s that the governm e nt d isl i kes can be classified a s xie j iao a nd el i m i nated without the i nco nven ience of p roving any cri m e . N ow, the CCP-affi l iated association suggests, Japa n is i nch ing towa rd th e sam e e n l ighte n ed a pproach . Fo r Be iji ng, th is l ega l d evelop m ent is a geopoliti ca l victory: a d e mocratic cou ntry a p pea rs to be

a dopti ng the Ch i nese model of ma nagi ng re l igi o n .

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J apan high cou rt upho lds d issolution orde r for Unifica tion Ch urc h

The China Anti-Xie-Jiao’s association statement.

H avi ng a p pla uded J a pan for its n ewfou n d rigo r, the state m e nt moves on to a target Be ij ing fi nd s eve n m o re interesti ng tha n the U n ificatio n Chu rch: Japa n’s P rime Mi n ister Sanae Taka i ch i . H e r views o n Taiwa n and other sens itive i ssues have i rritated the CC P, which perceives her as a da nger. The d i ssol ution case, therefore, becomes a conven ient sti ck with wh ich to beat he r. The state me nt repeats a l legati on s c i rcu lated byJapa nese leftist po l iti cia ns a n d med ia that Ta ka i c h i h as “d ee p ti es with the U n ificatio n Ch u rch” a nd eve n a “stable fi na n ci al relationsh ip” with orga n i zations affi l i ated with it. In J apa n, m a ny co nsi der th ese cla ims fa lse or wi l d ly exaggerated, b ut th e Ch i nese state m e nt treats them as fact. “ Med ia outl ets ge n e ral ly be l i eve,” it decla res, “that th e lo ng-term i nte ra ctions between Ta ka i ch i a n d others with the Un ificati o n Chu rch reflect a co ntroversia l aspect ofJ a pa n’s pol iti ca l fu nd i ng ove rsight system a nd have beco m e a factor infl uen ci ng po l iti ca l issues a nd the pu b l i c i mage of rel ated politi cians.” Th e phra se “med ia outlets ge ne ra lly be l ieve” is d oi ng a lot of heavy l ifti ng here, especia lly si nce th e outlets in q uesti on a re mostly a nticu lt a n d l eftl ean i ng publ i cations, some with un m ista kable ti es to Ch i n a . Sti l l, the CCP-contro l l ed o rgan izatio n i nsists that “seve ra l a uthoritative internation a l med ia outl ets conti n ue to revea l the d ee p ties between J a pan ese Pri me Mi n ister Sa nae Taka ichi a nd the Un ifi catio n Ch u rch ,” as tho ugh repetition a lone could tra nsfo rm speculation i nto evide nce. The goa l is tra nsparent: wea ponize the High Co u rt d ecis ion to da mage a po l iticia n Be iji ng disl i kes.

The fina l sectio n of the statement is the most revea l ing. It wa rm ly wel com es J a pan as a n ew pa rtner i n Ch i na’s l o ng-sta ndi ng cam pa ign aga i n st the Un ificati on Ch u rch . I t re mi n ds rea ders that “I n 1997, th e U n ificatio n Chu rch wa s designated as a xi e j ia o by the Chi n ese gove rn ment,” a nd n otes that Ch inese citizens a nd foreign visito rs sus pected of ties to the C h u rc h have bee n a rrested i n Ch ina . The rea son for th is hostil ity, the state m ent expla i ns, is that th e U n ificati on Ch urch has consistently sp read “a nti co m mu n i st d octri nes,” a nd th at its con nected U .S. newspa pe r, “The Wa sh i ngton Ti mes”, i s a ntiCom m un i st, a ntiC hi n ese, a n d su pported Am erica n age n ci es that suggested a possi ble la borato ry l eak i n Wu ha n as the o rigi n of the COVID pa n dem ic. For Beij ing, this is po l iti ca l heresy. And now, the CC P-affi l iated organ ization suggests with evi dent satisfa cti on, J a pa n—a n America n al ly, no less— h as join ed C hi na i n its glo ba l effo rt to destroy a n a ntiCom m u n ist ch urch .

The tone of the statement is a m ixture of tri u m p h, vi nd i cati o n, a nd opportu n is m . Ch i na sees i n the Tokyo High Cou rt’s decisi o n n ot only the d ownfa ll of a re ligious m ovem e nt it has lo ng d esp ised but a lso a cha nce to cl ai m i deo logica l a l ign m e nt with a de moc rati c neighbo r a nd to score politica l po i nts aga inst a p ri m e m i n ister it views as unfriendly. Whether J a pa n i nte nd ed a ny of th is is a nothe r m atter enti rely. But in Beij ing’s readi ng, the dissol utio n of the U n ificati o n Chu rch is m o re tha n a J a panese lega l deci sio n. It i s a m oment of geopo l itica l clarity, a s ign that even d emocraci es ca n be pers u a d ed—un der the right ci rcumstances—to wa l k a littl e closer to the Ch i nese model .

Ch i nese Com mu n ist Pa rtyja pa n, Re l igi ous Li be rty, U n ificati o n Ch urch

M a ssim o Introvign e M assi m o I ntrovign e (born Ju n e 14, 1955 in Rom e) is a n Ita lia n sociologist of rel igions. H e is the fou nd er a nd m anagi ng d i recto r of the Center fo r Stud ies o n N ew Re l igi on s (C E S N UR), a n i nte rnationa l n etwo rk of sch ol a rs who stu dy new rel igious movements. Introvigne is the a uth o r of so m e 70 boo ks a nd m ore th a n 1 00 a rticles i n the fie l d of sociol ogy of rel igi o n. H e was the mai n a uthor of the Enciclopedia deiie religion! in Italia ( E n cyclopedia of Rel igi o ns i n Ita ly). H e is a m e mber of th e edito ri a l boa rd for the Inte rd isc i p lina ry l ourna l of Resea rch o n Re l igi o n and of the executive board of Un iversity of Ca liforn i a Press’ N ova Re l igio. Fro m Ja n u a ry 5 to Dece mbe r 3 1, 20 11, he h as served a s th e “ Re presentative o n combati ng ra ci sm, xenop h ob ia a nd d i scri m i n ation, wi th a specia l focu s on d iscri m i nati on aga i nst Ch risti ans and mem bers of other rel igi o ns” of th e O rgan i zat i o n for Security and C o-o pera t i o n i n E uro pe (OSCE). From 20 1 2 to 20 1 5 he served as c ha i rperson of the O bse rvato ry of Re l igious Li be rty, i n stituted by the Ita l ian Mi nistry of Foreign Affa i rs i n ord e r to mo n itor probl e ms of rel igi ous l i berty o n a worldwide sca l e. www.cesn u r.org/

E c ho es of the Sac re d: Jao The M ystical Res i stance of The Luminou s Nestor ian s : Ts ung-I’s C hine se R eli gion the S ur reali sts in W hen Chr i sti ani ty Wa s Ac ross Five Millennia Communi st C hin a Alread y C hinese F eb 2 6 , 2 0 2 6 Feb 21, 2 0 26 Feb 18, 2 026

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