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"Only two Christian organizations--a ‘patriotic’ Catholic association without official ties to Rome and the ‘Three-Self-Patriotic’ Protestant church--are sanctioned by the Chinese Government. Unregistered ‘house’ churches exist in many parts of the country. The extent to which local authorities have tried to control the activities of unregistered churches varies from region to region. However, the government suppresses the religious activities of "underground" Roman Catholic clergy who are not affiliated with the official patriotic Catholic association and have avowed loyalty to the Vatican, which the government accuses of interfering in the country's internal affairs. The government also severely restricts the activities of groups it designates as ‘evil cults,’ including several Christian groups and the Falun Gong spiritual movement” (U.S. Department of State, 2011).
Although China has the second largest economy in the world, the income per capita is still below the world average (CIA World Factbook, 2011).
“21.5 million [people in the] rural population live below the official ‘absolute poverty’ line (approximately $90 per year); an additional 35.5 million [people in the] rural population live above that level but below the official ‘low income’ line (approximately $125 per year)” (CIA World Factbook, 2007 est.).
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