Pat Robertson did a remarkable interview with Li Zhaoxing, China's ambassador to the United States, on the November 10 700 Club, Robertson's long-running Christian Broadcasting Network show. Not surprisingly for a Pentecostal evangelist whose CBN WorldReach is the self-proclaimed "first Christian charity to ever be licensed in the People's Republic of China," Robertson spent much of the interview on religious freedom. But he went astonishingly easy on his interlocutor. Li Zhaoxing, remember, represents a government that still jails Christians who don't bend to its will -- a government that even now is engaged in a Maoist crackdown on the Falun Gong movement, spiritualists who meditate and practice faith-healing. Because Falun Gong spooked the Beijing government earlier this year with a peaceful gathering in the Chinese capital that caught the authorities by surprise, the movement has been banned and its members are being jailed by the dozen. This, it turns out, is fine by Robertson. Some excerpts:
ROBERTSON: When I was in China, I was assured that there was religious freedom. I went to the various churches and I was quite pleased at the level of freedom in China. But what is happening recently that you'd like to discuss?
LI: Well, the Chinese Constitution provides for the right of the citizens' freedom of religion. Indeed, at the moment we have maybe the biggest religious community among all countries in the world. We have more than 100 million people believing in various religions such as Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, and so forth.
ROBERTSON: There's a sect that has come up, I understand, that the government has felt could not be allowed to continue. Could you tell us about that?
LI: There is a sect, or indeed there is a cult, in China, by the name Falun Gong. Founded in the year of 1992. It is pretty new. It is very damaging and harmful. This cult was led by a gentleman called Li Hongzhi. He was quite a character. And a -- he deliberately changed his birthday from July the 7th to May the 31st.
ROBERTSON: Why did he do that?
LI: Well, because he wanted to show off to both that he was the reincarnation of the founder, because that founder was born on the day of May 31st many years ago.
ROBERTSON: This leader deliberately changed his birthday to say I am the reincarnation? He was lying to the people.
LI: Of course he was lying. Besides that, he said he's -- he's more elevated than China's founder of Taoism and he's more elevated by far greater even than Jesus Christ. So we can see that this is a man who is good at cheating people . . .
ROBERTSON: The National People's Congress, I understand, passed a law prohibiting cults. Is this going to ever be applied to Christianity or Buddhism or some other religion?
LI: Not at all. Because the government of China has only outlawed the cult Falun Gong. This has got nothing to do with any religion because the Falun Gong is not a religion. It is nothing but a cult.
ROBERTSON: All right.
The main question raised by this performance is whether, when Robertson collaborates with Beijing's propaganda, he is simply complying with the terms of his charity's license, or does he just not know better?