Freedom of Religion
(Washington)—Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), the Chair and Cochair, respectively, of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), held a hearing to explore efforts by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to curtail historical inquiry into subjects deemed “sensitive,” such as the Tiananmen Massacre; control narratives regarding the history of the CCP; and erase the culture of repressed peoples, including Tibetans, Southern Mongolians, and Uyghurs.
Under Xi Jinping’s leadership, PRC officials continue to assert far-reaching control over China’s diverse religious communities. As more religious activity and resources move online, especially in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, PRC authorities have expanded use of digital tools to surveil and suppress online religious expression. Invasive surveillance technologies track and monitor religious groups and individual believers that authorities deem a threat.
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INTRODUCTION
As many as 1.8 million Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Muslim minorities are, or have been, arbitrarily detained in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). The severe human rights abuses, torture, political indoctrination, forced renunciations of faith, and widespread and systematic forced labor occurring in mass internment camps may constitute crimes against humanity under international law.
Concrete improvements in human rights and the rule of law in China are directly linked to the security and prosperity of both the American and Chinese people. Advances in protecting human rights and curbing government violations of universal freedoms are essential components of economic development, mutual prosperity, domestic stability, and the type of trust and confidence necessary to strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation on a range of issues that will define the 21st century.
CECC Chairs’ Statement on President Xi’s Speech on Religion
Call on Xi to End Destruction of Religious Property and Cease Unlawful Detention of Religious Leaders and Lawyers Seeking to Represent Them
April 26, 2016
(Washington DC)—Following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s address before senior Communist Party leaders at a conference on religion this past weekend, the chair and cochair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) today issued the following statements: