THE Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, was criticised last night by Christians and human rights campaigners for failing to lobby China’s leaders hard on religious freedoms.

Dr Williams ended a two-week visit to China saying that he was encouraged about the future of Christianity in the world’s largest Communist, and officially atheist, state.

He sought to avoid controversy at a pre-departure press conference, ducking opportunities to criticise Beijing’s record on religion and instead praising the easing of controls. But outspoken and high-profile members of China’s underground church said Dr Williams’s experience had been filtered by officials. Yu Jie, an author, said Dr Williams had visited only churches officially sanctioned by the State: “Nor did he see or talk to any real Christians,” he said. “His view of China’s religious conditions is very positive, but this isn’t in accordance with the facts.”

Dr Williams did raise questions about half a dozen arrested Christians, and about Tibet and relations with the Vatican, and said he had gained a clearer understanding of China’s religious culture.

“We’re a long way past the Cultural Revolution — we’re a long way past a situation where there is a systematic attempt to block out or extirpate religion,” he said. The Government’s increased willingness to allow religious groups a role in civil society was encouraging.

Beijing officials say that religious freedom is enshrined in the constitution and citizens are free to attend ceremonies at churches, mosques and temples under state control.

International rights groups have accused China of jailing Catholic priests, as well as Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns, for remaining loyal to the Pope and the Dalai Lama respectively.

Mr Yu, a recent convert to an underground – or home – church, said that he was not optimistic that the Archbishop’s trip would lead to an improvement in circumstances for Christians here.

He said: “Everything was arranged by the Patriotic Church and the Archbishop didn’t go to any home churches. Nor did he see or talk to any real Christians.” The Archbishop did raise the issue of Pastor Cai Zhaohua, sentenced in 2005 to three years in prison for illegally printing Bibles. The only official response was a request for more information.

Mr Yu, who met President Bush at the White House in May, said his American host voiced much tougher criticism of religious persecution in China.

Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said: “The Archbishop should be raising concerns about religious freedoms broadly and publicly and telling the Chinese authorities they have no right to restrict these freedoms.”

China has between 40 and 80 million active Christians, divided between state-run and underground churches.

The number of believers has exploded in recent years. Dr Williams said he had been surprised by how full churches had been and added that relaxing of controls would take time. “You don’t turn the ocean liner around in five minutes,”he added.

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