Even before America became the nation it is today, our lands have been a refuge where people of all faiths could live, worship and prosper. Our God-given right to worship, pray and practice religion without government obstruction is the most fundamental freedom we are blessed with, and this freedom has helped to shape our nation into the leader of the free world.
Perhaps no nation seeks to undermine America’s global standing and interests more than China, our leading adversary. While we continue to make great strides in countering the Chinese Communist Party’s malign influence through military, intelligence and economic means, the U.S. cannot afford to sit idly by as China carries out a very public, targeted, and violent campaign against religious freedom on the global stage.
This month, the world witnessed the largest reported crackdown on practicing Christians in China since 2018, when pastors and leaders from a well-known Christian house church were detained on charges of “using superstitious activities to undermine the implementation of law.” Among those detainees was pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, a leader of one of China’s underground churches since 2007. But this incident isn’t isolated.
In 2014, Pastor Zhang Shaojie, a church pastor from Nanle County in central Henan, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for “gathering a crowd to disrupt public order.”
Pastor Wang Yi of the Early Rain Covenant Church was arrested and sentenced to nine years in prison for “inciting to subvert state power” and “illegal business operations.”
Pastor John Cao, an American from North Carolina, was sentenced to seven years in prison under charges of allegedly organizing an illegal border crossing. He was released from prison in September 2024, but reports suggest China refuses to let him leave the country.
The Chinese Communist Party has codified its war on religious freedom into law. Under Article 300 of the Chinese Criminal Code, individuals who practice outside the five state-sanctioned religions — Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Protestantism, and Islam — can face life imprisonment. Despite these laws, the Chinese Communist Party has led calculated attacks on Protestant Christians, Tibetans, Uyghur Muslims, and Catholics.
Religious minorities — specifically Falun Gong practitioners and the Uyghurs — have reportedly been victimized by forced sterilizations, sexual violence, torture, and slave labor. Houses of worship across China have been shut down, and the Chinese Communist Party has sought to erase sacred traditions from Chinese culture.
This is what religious persecution looks like in our modern world.
The U.S. has denounced China’s persecution of people of faith, but now we must strengthen our charge to hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable for its crimes.
Today marks the 26th anniversary of the enactment of the International Religious Freedom Act, a day when the U.S. recognizes religious liberty as our first freedom and a universal human right that is recognized in international law.
Since 1999, the Department of State has designated China as a country of particular concern for religious freedom under the International Religious Freedom Act. Concurrently, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s most recent report recommends that China be designated a country of particular concern for engaging in systematic, ongoing violations of religious freedom, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act. Both the State Department and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom have been actively monitoring and exposing violations of religious freedom around the world, and China consistently ranks among the top perpetrators.
The evidence is undeniable. America must respond with strength. In the U.S. Senate, I’ve reintroduced the Combating the Persecution of Religious Groups in China Act to hold Chinese Communist Party officials accountable for their repeated record of brutality toward religious minorities. Any Chinese official who is responsible for or has directly carried out abuses against religious groups must face strict U.S. sanctions.
Sanctions send a strong message abroad, but the foundation of change must also start here at home. My legislation would bolster our State Department programs designed to combat religious persecution while also signaling strong support for Secretary of State Marco Rubio to continue designating China as a country of particular concern if its acts of religious persecution continue.
The reign of religious persecution in China is reprehensible and should be met with strong American and, ideally, global repudiation. While the U.S. cannot and should not seek to police every violation of religious freedom around the world, China’s strategic undermining of American interests and its attempts to expand its influence across the globe present a unique threat.
Now more than ever, our government must play a key role in monitoring and addressing China’s persecution of Christians and other religious minorities. The time to end China’s calculated assault on religious freedom is now.
Ted Budd is the junior U.S. senator from North Carolina.
