Overview:

• The degree to which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) holds influence over the religious recognition system in Hong Kong sees fluctuation and remains ambiguous.

• There are not separate registration procedures for religious entities which is not ideal.

• There exists a vertical recognition in effect because there is two categories of registration, a society and a religious group; there is also the category of tax-exempt organisation.

• There exists a lack of procedures for existential recognition in the territory.

• With respect to Hong Kong, the central government notified the Secretary-General, in part, that the ICCPR would also apply to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Positive elements:

• Nil.

Recommendations:

• Due to the ongoing encroachment of the CCP into life in Hong Kong, it is doubtful that the Special Administrative Region will maintain its status of receptive if CCP successfully imposes anything like its own religion policies in Hong Kong.

• To maintain its receptivity and to become dynamic, Hong Kong would need to establish distinct procedures for recognising and registering religious entities anti would need to establish a recognition agency to manage its recognition system independent of the government.