Cult

=== China ===
{{Main articles|Heterodox teachings (Chinese law)|Persecution of Falun Gong}}
[[File:Destruction d'ouvrages du Falun Gong lors de la répression de 1999 en Chine.jpg|thumb|right|[[Falun Gong]] books being symbolically destroyed by the [[Chinese government]]]]
For centuries, governments in China have categorized certain religions as ''[[Heterodox teachings (Chinese law)|xiéjiào]]'' ({{Zh|c=[[wikt:邪教|邪教]]|s=|t=|p=|labels=no}}), sometimes translated as "evil cults" or "[[Heterodox teachings (Chinese law)|heterodox teachings]]".<ref name="Pennyreligion">{{Cite book |last=Penny |first=Benjamin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P6Z6fQ7Fg3QC |title=The Religion of Falun Gong |date=2012 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0226655017 |language=en}}</ref> In [[imperial China]], the classification of a religion as {{Lang|zh-latn|xiejiao}} did not necessarily mean that a religion's teachings were believed to be false or inauthentic, rather, the label was applied to religious groups that were not authorized by the state, or it was applied to religious groups that were believed to challenge the legitimacy of the state.<ref name="Pennyreligion" /> In [[modern China]], the term ''{{Lang|zh-latn|xiejiao}}'' continues to be used to denote teachings that the government disapproves of, and these groups face suppression and punishment by authorities. Fourteen different groups in China have been listed by the ministry of public security as ''{{Lang|zh-latn|xiejiao}}''.<ref>Center for Religious Freedom. February 2002. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20120402165033/http://www.hudson.org/files/publications/Analysis_of_China_Docs_1_to_7.pdf Report Analyzing Seven Secret Chinese Government Documents]." Washington: [[Freedom House]].</ref> Additionally, in 1999, Chinese Communist Party authorities denounced the [[Falun Gong]] spiritual practice as a heretical teaching, and they launched a campaign to eliminate it. However, such claims only exist in party resolutions, and has not been legitimized by Chinese own law systems. This actually made such denouncement confusing and as outlawed actions secretly conducted by Communist Party's secret policemen. According to [[Amnesty International]], the [[persecution of Falun Gong]] includes a multifaceted [[Propaganda in the People's Republic of China|propaganda campaign]],<ref name="CRS2006">{{cite web |url=https://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/67820.pdf |title=CRS Report for Congress: China and Falun Gong |publisher=[[Congressional Research Service]] |last=Lum |first=Thomas |date=25 May 2006}}</ref> a program of enforced ideological conversion and re-education, as well as a variety of extralegal coercive measures, such as [[arbitrary arrest]]s, [[forced labour]], and physical [[torture]], sometimes resulting in death.<ref name="Amnesty1">{{cite web|url=http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/engASA170112000 |title=China: The crackdown on Falun Gong and other so-called "heretical organizations" |date=23 March 2000 |publisher=Amnesty International |access-date=17 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030711022606/http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/engASA170112000 |archive-date=11 July 2003}}</ref>