China’s War on Religion: The Threat to Religious Freedom and Why it Matters to the United States

Video Description

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has intensified its drive for absolute control over religion, insisting that believers subordinate conscience and conviction to the Party and to General Secretary Xi Jinping. This is not incidental to the PRC’s domestic agenda or international influence; it is a core feature of Party rule, reflected in sweeping regulations on religion and detentions, surveillance, and harassment targeting believers and groups operating outside official bounds. The hearing will spotlight escalating repression targeting all of China’s diverse religious communities and examine why the CCP’s assault on freedom of religion matters for the United States. The hearing will focus on: (1) CCP policies and tactics for coercive control of religion and their impact on individuals and communities; (2) Transnational repression used to censor and punish diaspora religious communities and individual believers abroad; (3) the nexus between religious freedom and national security, and the strategic importance of religious freedom diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific; and (4) policy recommendations for a robust U.S. response. The hearing will be held in 106 Dirksen Senate Office Building. Witnesses: Ambassador Sam Brownback: Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom (2018-2021), Governor of Kansas (2011-2018), U.S. Senator (1996-2011) Ismail “Ma Ju” Juma: Hui Muslim human rights advocate Bhuchung Tsering: Leader, International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) Research and Monitoring Unit Bob Fu: Founder and President, ChinaAid Grace Jin Drexel: Daughter of Pastor Ezra Jin