(ZENIT News / Washington, 03.27.2025).- The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has once again taken aim at China’s oppressive policies, accusing the ruling Communist Party of waging an aggressive campaign against religious communities. In its 2025 annual report, released on March 25, the commission highlights ongoing persecution, state surveillance, and ideological control, describing religious freedom conditions in China as “among the worst in the world.”
Lawmakers and human rights advocates joined the report’s presentation, including Representative John Moolenaar, who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He condemned the party’s systematic efforts to reshape religious traditions, calling the so-called sinicization of religion an attempt to eradicate independent faith and enforce loyalty to communist ideology.
Moolenaar did not mince words: “For decades, the CCP has been rewriting sacred texts, not to clarify them, but to corrupt them—turning spiritual truth into communist propaganda. Their persecution of believers, forced sterilizations, destruction of places of worship, and internment camps are horrors the world must not ignore.”
A High-Tech War Against Religion
The report outlines how the Chinese government uses advanced surveillance, including artificial intelligence, facial and voice recognition, and big data analytics, to monitor religious groups. Authorities track members of targeted faiths such as Uyghur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, Christians, and Falun Gong practitioners, treating religious belief as a threat to state control.
One case singled out in the report is that of Protestant pastor Kan Xiaoyong, sentenced to 14 years in prison in early 2024 on what the commission describes as baseless charges. Another is Falun Gong practitioner Xu Na, who received an eight-year sentence in 2022 for sharing information with The Epoch Times about the Chinese government’s handling of COVID-19.
Falun Gong, a spiritual practice rooted in meditation and moral teachings, has been brutally repressed since 1999 when the CCP, fearing its rapid growth, declared it an enemy of the state. At the time, official estimates suggested over 70 million people were practicing Falun Gong—more than the Communist Party’s own membership. The crackdown led to mass arrests, forced labor camps, and allegations of torture and extrajudicial killings, with practitioners forcibly disappeared in vast numbers.
U.S. Cases Highlight China’s Influence Abroad
The report also sheds light on how China’s repression extends beyond its borders. It details two U.S. criminal cases involving individuals accused of aiding the CCP in targeting religious groups.
In November 2024, Li Ping, a Florida-based engineer and naturalized U.S. citizen, was sentenced to four years in prison for spying on Chinese dissidents, including Falun Gong practitioners, and relaying intelligence to China’s Ministry of State Security. That same month, another American, John Chen, received a 20-month prison term for attempting to bribe U.S. officials to revoke the nonprofit status of Shen Yun Performing Arts, a New York-based dance company known for exposing Beijing’s human rights abuses.
The commission also referenced an ongoing case against Linda Sun, a former aide to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who allegedly acted as an intermediary for the Chinese government, blocking public discussions on the mass detention of Uyghurs in China.
A Call for Action
The USCIRF’s recommendations urge the U.S. government to take stronger measures against China’s religious repression. These include re-designating China as a “Country of Particular Concern” under the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, imposing targeted sanctions on CCP officials, and strengthening restrictions on technology exports that could aid Beijing’s surveillance state.
Senator James Lankford, speaking at the report’s release event, stressed that religious freedom must remain a core issue in U.S.-China relations. “The CCP insists there is no problem, that Uyghurs are happy, that no one is persecuted. We all know that is false. Standing up for the right to believe—or not believe—is a fundamental human right,” he said.
Representative Brad Sherman echoed these concerns, calling for increased scrutiny of Beijing’s actions. “We must never turn a blind eye to China’s religious persecution,” he stated.
Meir Soloveichik, USCIRF Vice Chair, expressed cautious optimism. “Despite rising threats, there is still a real opportunity to prevent further backsliding on religious freedom. With determination, we can even advance it,” he said.
USCIRF Chair Stephen Schneck reinforced the message: “The U.S. government must remain unwavering in its defense of this universal right.”
With China’s crackdown showing no signs of slowing, the commission’s report serves as a stark reminder that religious persecution remains a central battleground in the struggle for human rights.
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