11/11/2021 China (International Christian Concern) – Earlier today, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) passed what it calls a “historic resolution” praising Chinese President Xi Jinping. The resolution also commemorates 100-year history of the CCP and lays out Xi’s plan for the future of the country.
Today’s resolution is only the CCP’s third since its founding in 1921 and is believed to be an attempt by Xi to cement his power over the communist regime in China. It is expected that Xi will run for a third term as president next year.
Not addressed in the resolution is China’s history of persecuting religious minorities. Over the last several decades it has forced abortions on its citizens, sterilized women without their consent, and murdered religious minorities to sell their organs on the black market. Christian home churches are an attempt to escape government scrutiny, but even they are often raided and their members arrested on charges of working against the interests of the state.
China’s largest-scale persecution campaign is against its Uyghur Muslim population, which it accuses of extremism. Analysts estimate that between one and three million Uyghurs have been interred in massive indoctrination camps in the last decade. Incidents of torture are common in these camps, though China has variously denied their existence and claimed that they are benevolent vocational centers.
The U.S. Departments of State and Treasury imposed numerous sanctions on Chinese persons earlier this year for their involvement in this persecution campaign. The last two administrations have agreed that the campaign against Uyghurs amounts to a genocide.
China also aggressively persecutes Christians who choose to worship in institutions outside of the state-run Three-Self church and Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. House churches are regularly raided, church leaders imprisoned, and laypeople intimidated for practicing their faith outside the narrow confines established by the government.
A recent Freedom House report ranked China as one of the least free countries in the world, including for its lack of religious freedom. A 2017 report by Freedom House found that “at least 100 million believers belong to groups facing high or very high levels of religious persecution, namely Protestant Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims, and Falun Gong practitioners.” Research from other groups corroborate this finding.
For interviews, please contact Addison Parker: press@persecution.org.
