Written by Don Byrd
This week, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations (part of the House Foreign Relations Committee) will hold a hearing on recent charges of increased religious persecution in China. “China’s War on Christianity and Other Religious Faiths” will take place on September 27.
CBN News has more, including a statement from Subcommittee Chair Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ):
“Burning Bibles, destroying churches, and jailing Muslims by the million is only part of the Chinese Communist Party’s audaciously repressive assault on conscience and religion. Taking a hammer and sickle to the cross is a good way to create bipartisan consensus for a tougher U.S. stance towards China,” Smith said in a press release.
“Nevertheless, a strong U.S. response and leadership is needed to confront this evil because Beijing’s external aggression emanates from its internal repression,” he continued. “This hearing will look at Xi Jinping’s efforts to sinicize religion in China and delve deeper into increasing pressure on the fast-growing Protestant ‘house church’ movement and the announced agreement between the Holy See and Beijing.”
Meanwhile, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has issued a statement of concern:
On the same weekend as national media in the United States revealed the horrific detention of countless Uighur Muslims in extra-judicial “re-education camps,” the Chinese government also reportedly raided and shut down Zion Church in Beijing. These collective actions, coupled with abuses against other religious communities, such as Tibetan Buddhists and Falun Gong practitioners, signal an alarming escalation in persecution of citizens in China under Xi Jinping. USCIRF condemns the Chinese government’s ongoing brutal and systematic targeting of religious communities for their beliefs.
For more, see the State Department report on China in the most recent annual report on religious freedom.
