China Playing Games With Religious Freedom?

It certainly seems that way:

The Chinese government announced that it will encourage select Christian groups to distribute Bibles to athletes and visitors at the Olympics next year. The Christian groups will also be asked to act as volunteers to assist foreigners of the same religion while they are in China — this in a nation where smuggling in Bibles is still illegal.

The atheist government’s actions are in response to allegations by some foreign religious and human rights groups that said visitors would not be allowed to bring copies of the Bible or other religious items into the Olympic venue. The government said the only stipulation they set was that only one Bible be allowed per traveler.

An American who has worked with Christian ministries in China told WoW, “The whole thing in China is about control. … This way they can say they are meeting a need but still not allow Bibles to spread to the Chinese public.” She said since the Bibles will be given only to foreigners, the government is able to “save face” among religious groups while keeping Bibles out of the hands of their own people.

In regards to the Amity Foundation, she said they do print lots of Bibles and have increased the number of Bibles in the nation greatly, but the number per capita is still “quite low.” She also suspects the opening of the factory in the same year as the Olympics is a government publicity act as well.

Here is more on the printing of Bibles in China:

Demand for the Bible is soaring in China, at a time when meteoric economic growth is testing the country’s allegiance to Communist doctrine. Today the 50 millionth Bible will roll off the presses of China’s only authorised publisher, Amity Printing, amid public fanfare and celebration.

In the past, foreign visitors were discouraged from bringing Bibles into the country in case they received some heavy-handed treatment from zealous Customs officials.

Such is the demand in China for Bibles that Amity Printing can scarcely keep pace. Early next year it will move into a new, much larger factory on the edge of the eastern city of Nanjing to become the world’s single-biggest producer of Bibles.

Apparently, Amity Printing's press will be the largest Bible press in the world. From a political perspective, this accomplishes several goals of China's political leaders:

1. Signals a high-level commitment of religious freedom to the outside world.
2. Keeps control over the production and distribution of these Bibles under the government's authority.
3. Allows the government to more credibly restrict any competitors from entering the Bible production market, keeping Bible prices higher and production lower than it would otherwise be.
   

My best guess is that the Chinese government is publicly trying to put up a front of promoting religious freedom while in reality continuing to tighten their toleration of religion as the Olympics draw near. On the other hand, the Chinese government may underestimate just how fungible Bibles can be in Chinese society and inadvertently end up flooding the religious market with exactly what Chinese Christians want. As one commentator remarked, China may end up with 50 million "Bible bombs" on their hands.