Wang v. Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs

Chinese law limited religious practice to five state-recognized religions and required that religious adherents attend only state-registered churches. The registration requirement effectively allowed the Chinese government to monitor membership in religious organizations as well as meeting locations, clergy selection, publication of religious materials, and funding. Chinese citizen and resident Ji Dong Wang (plaintiff) was a Protestant Christian who attended an unregistered church. In 1995 and 1996, Wang was twice arrested by the Public Service Bureau (PSB) while attending a religious meeting. Each time, he was detained for several days, interrogated, and beaten. Between the detentions, Wang’s shop was broken into multiple times. Police refused to help because Wang was under investigation by the PSB. In 1997, the PSB confiscated bibles from Wang’s shop and threatened to arrest him if he continued distributing Bibles. Wang left China, entering Australia on a temporary visa. He subsequently applied for a more permanent protection visa. Wang argued that he was a refugee because he was unwilling to return to China due to a well-founded fear of persecution for practicing his religion at an unregistered church. An immigration officer denied the application. The Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) denied review, concluding that because Wang would be free to practice his religion at a registered church, any punishment for practicing his religion at an unregistered church would not amount to religious persecution but would instead merely constitute punishment for breaking Chinese law. After a trial court denied review, Wang appealed the RRT’s decision to the Federal Court of Australia.