Antireligious campaigns in China

Short description: none

The Cemetery of Confucius was attacked by Red Guards in November 1966.[1][2] Falun Gong books are destroyed following the announcement of the ban in 1999.

Antireligious campaigns in the People's Republic of China are a series of policies and practices which have been carried out as part of the Chinese Communist Party's official promotion of state atheism, coupled with its persecution of people with spiritual or religious beliefs, in the People's Republic of China.[3][4][5][6][7]

Well before the People's Republic of China, the Qing dynasty's 1898 edict confiscated folk religion temples that were not performing state sacrifices and turned them into schools; though these confiscations were reversed after a short time, they set a precedent for subsequent antireligious campaigns. In the Republic of China (ROC), both the Beiyang government and then the Nationalist government viewed the free exercise of "religion" as based on the Western model of institutionalized religions, and sought to eliminate folk religious practice through anti-superstition campaigns.

In 1945, in the Yan'an Soviet, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) implemented a campaign to eliminate shamanic practices, especially those deemed unhygienic. After the 1949 proclamation of the People's Republic of China, the government sought to suppress the new religious movements that had developed during the ROC era, deeming them reactionary secret societies.

Major campaigns sought to eliminate religion during the Cultural Revolution. Red Guards destroyed religious objects, texts, temples, and premises as part of the campaign against the "Four Olds." The first nationwide antireligious campaign of the Reform and Opening Up period was the 1983 suppression of The Shouters, a new religious movement. In the mid-1990s, government discourses changed from the Mao-era characterization of such movements as "reactionary secret societies" to using the terminology of "evil cults". Beginning in 1999 during Jiang Zemin's administration, the government sought to suppress Falun Gong and persecuted practitioners.

State campaigns against religion have escalated since Xi Jinping became CCP general secretary in 2012. For Christians in China, government decrees have mandated the widespread removal of crosses from churches, and in some cases, they have also mandated the destruction of houses of worship. Congregations of Mormons have been banned throughout the country and the small Kaifeng Jewish community has been suppressed. In Tibet, decrees have mandated the destruction of Tibetan Buddhist monastic centers, denied Tibetans' access to their cultural heritage, and led to ongoing persecution of high Buddhist lamas as well as Buddhist nuns and monks. In Xinjiang, the government has detained more than a million Uyghur Muslims in internment camps, destroyed or sinicized mosques, and suppressed Islamic religious practices such as fasting during Ramadan.

## Contents

* 1 Late Qing period
* 2 Republic of China
* 3 Yan'an and the Early PRC
* 4 Cultural Revolution
* 5 Deng Xiaoping era
* 6 1989–2002: Jiang Zemin administration
* 6.1 Falun Gong
* 6.2 Tibetan Buddhists
* 6.3 Christians
* 6.4 Muslims
* 7 2002–2012: Hu Jintao administration
* 7.1 Falun Gong
* 7.2 Tibetan Buddhists
* 8 2012–present: Xi Jinping administration
* 8.1 New religious movements
* 8.2 Tibetan Buddhists
* 8.3 Christians
* 8.4 Muslims
* 8.5 Jews
* 8.6 Mormons
* 9 Responses in the United States
* 10 See also
* 11 References
* 12 External links

## Late Qing period

In 1898, Kang Youwei persuaded the Emperor to issue an edict confiscating folk religion temples which were not performing state sacrifices and turn them into schools.[8]: 28 The temple confiscations were shortly reversed.[8]: 28 The policy set a precedent for future campaigns in China.[8]: 28 [9]: 308

Beginning in 1901, and more so after 1904, local officials and reform activists seized temple land and infrastructure to build schools, self-administration bureaus, barracks, police stations, post offices, and other newly mandated public buildings.[9]: 307–308

The current meaning of "religion" (Chinese: 宗教; pinyin: zongjiao) developed in Chinese discourses around 1900.[9]: 309 In its earliest uses, it referred specifically to Christianity.[9]: 309 It became more broadly used by intellectuals in China to describe exclusive systems of thought and practice with a congregational organization distinct from society as a whole, a viewpoint consistent with the Western post-Enlightenment view of religion.[9]: 309 This definition of religion helped advance anti-superstition policies.[9]: 309

## Republic of China

In the Republic of China, both the Beiyang government and the Nationalist government sought the eliminate the social power of traditional Chinese religion.[8]: 29 The 1912 provisional constitution's freedom of religious belief provision was framed on the Protestant model of religion as an organized faith and it did not protect folk religious belief or temples from being destroyed or repurposed.[8]: 29 As academic Mayfair Mei-hui Yang writes, ROC "elites saw no contradiction between protecting freedom of belief on the one hand and eradicating superstition and destroying temples on the other."[8]: 29

Nationalist discourses in China during the 1920s became more anti-religious, and protests which were part of the Anti-Christian Movement occurred from 1922 to 1927.[8]: 25

From 1927 to 1937, the Nationalist government condemned folk religious practices as superstition and sought to eliminate these practices through anti-superstition campaigns.[10]: 35 The 1928 "Standards for retaining or abolishing gods and shrines" formally abolished all cults of gods with the exception of human heroes such as Yu the Great, Guan Yu and Confucius.[11]

The Nationalist government banned the professional practices of the "three aunties and six grannies": Buddhist and Daoist nuns, female fortune-tellers, female healers, female shamans, procuresses, female matchmakers, brothel madams, and midwives.[12]: 11 In its campaign against superstition, the Nationalist government condemned men who practiced arts deemed superstitious as disreputable, deeming them "unproductive" and "useless to society."[12]: 12 Male ritual professions condemned in this way included shamans, fortune tellers, and geomancers, among others.[12]: 12

The efficacy of the ROC's anti-superstition policies were limited as a result of its weak bureaucracy, the political divisions of the warlord era, and then the Second Sino-Japanese War.[10]: 35

Yiguandao became the largest new religious movement of the Republic of China era, in part because of its effective use of opportunities during the war.[10]: 119 Its founder Zhang Guangbi developed a close relationship with the Japanese and Yiguandao included officials of the Wang Jingwei government in its membership.[13]: 343 As a result, both the Nationalists and the CCP condemned Yiguandao; at the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Zhang was arrested and the society was banned.[10]: 343 As the CCP came into power, some networks of Yiguandao engaged in armed conflict with it.[13]: 342

## Yan'an and the Early PRC

The CCP's first mass campaign against superstition occurred in Yan'an in 1944 and 1945.[12]: 2 The campaign sought to eliminate shamanic ritual practices, reform shamans into productive workers, and to promote public health and hygiene.[12]: 3

In 1949, the CCP denounced religions as being associated with "foreign cultural imperialism," "feudalism," and "superstition."[14] After its founding, the PRC began a campaign to suppress the new religious movements that had developed during the ROC era, deeming them reactionary secret societies (fandong huidaomen).[10]: 38 These efforts eliminated new religious movements from public practice.[10]: 38

During the Korean War, the United States froze all Chinese assets in the United States and banned the transfer of funds from the United States to within the PRC.[15]: 50 Among the effects of these policies was cutting off funding for American-affiliated cultural institutions in China, including Christian colleges and religious institutions.[15]: 50 The PRC responded by nationalizing American-affiliated cultural institutions, including religious ones.[15]: 50

Various campaigns from the 1950s to the 1970s sought to eliminate the influence of folk religion, including through exhibition of objects deemed superstitious and publishing confessions from spirit mediums.[10]: 104 These campaigns aimed to expose what the state deemed to be evil and ignorant superstitious practices.[10]: 104

As a result of antireligious campaigns which were waged between 1950 and 1979, churches, mosques, and temples were closed and re-education was imposed upon clergy.[16]

## Cultural Revolution

According to Freedom House, during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), the CCP "imprisoned thousands of monks and nuns, destroyed all but 11 of Tibet's 6,200 monasteries, and burned sacred texts."[17] Some surviving temples were converted into army camps.[18] Statues of the Buddha and the Dalai Lama were smashed and burned, while religious texts and cultural artifacts were destroyed.[18] The possession of religious texts was also criminalized.[19] Monks were beaten or killed, and many Tibetans escaped with sacred texts and compiled teachings in exile communities in India.[20]

## Deng Xiaoping era

In 1982, the CCP issued The Basic Viewpoint on the Religious Question during our Country’s Socialist Period, commonly known as Document 19, that repudiated certain policies of the Cultural Revolution but also asserted that "communists are atheists and must unremittingly propagate atheism."[21] It described the Cultural Revolution's effort to suppress religion from society as "completely wrong and extremely harmful."[10]: 41 Document No. 19 states that Marxists should be atheists and free to propagate atheism, but that they must do so without antagonizing religious believers.[22]: 109

In 1983, a nationwide campaign sought to suppress The Shouters.[10]: 121 This was the first nationwide campaign of the post-Mao era targeting a religious group that the government had deemed a reactionary secret society.[10]: 121–122 A "strike hard" campaign against new religious movements proceeded from 1983 to 1986 (and later in some places).[13]: 363

## 1989–2002: Jiang Zemin administration

In the mid-1990s, the Chinese state began to adopt Western anti-cult discourse and terminology, influenced by the global media coverage of groups like the Branch Davidians, Aum Shinrikyo, and the Order of the Solar Temple.[10]: 122 It stopped using the Mao-era term "reactionary secret society" to refer to such groups, and instead began using the term "evil cult" (邪教 xiejiao) or "cultic organization".[10]: 122 From 1995 to 1999, the Ministry of State Security, the State Council, and the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party designated 14 new religious movements as evil cults.[10]: 122

### Falun Gong

On July 20, 1999, the Chinese government, led by Jiang Zemin from 1989 to 2002, commenced the persecution of Falun Gong.[23][24] It called for the "education of Marxist materialism and atheism" to counter Falun Gong.[25] People practicing in public or disseminating Falun Gong books would be jailed, according to state media.[23][26]

The Washington Post reported that Jiang Zemin alone decided that Falun Gong must be eliminated.[27] Human Rights Watch observed that the persecution against Falun Gong reflects the CCP's belief that "religion is inherently subversive, a vehicle for foreign and domestic anti-China forces."[28]

In December 1999, four high-profile Falun Gong practitioners were sentenced to between 16 and 18 years in prison.[29] On October 1, 2000, foreign media correspondents witnessed police beating and arresting thousands of Falun Gong practitioners on the Tiananmen Square in Beijing who were protesting against the persecution.[30][31] An April 2000 Wall Street Journal article described how the Chinese government tortured a 58-year-old woman who refused to renounce her faith in Falun Gong and died in police custody.[32]

According to reports, Falun Gong practitioners have been subjected to medical testing and had their organs forcibly removed since 1999.[33][34][35] Another report highlighted that the rapid expansion of the organ transplant industry in China coincided with Jiang's launch of the persecution against Falun Gong in 1999.[36] It referenced accounts from Falun Gong practitioners who underwent medical testing consistent with the requirements for organ transplants.[36]

### Tibetan Buddhists

In 1989, violent repression spread in Tibet after prolonged rebellions against Chinese rule. Under the local authority of Hu Jintao, then the CCP Secretary of Tibet, possibly hundreds of Tibetans were killed. Martial Law was declared for a year, until 30 April 1990, during which hundreds more were killed and thousands imprisoned[37] under Jiang's Beijing authority and Hu's local authority. Hu was later promoted to top leadership posts for his work.[38]

In 1991, while crafting policy towards Tibetan Buddhists, Jiang's preliminary decree stated reincarnated lamas must be approved by China's central government.[39] The decree was later revised and termed State Religious Affairs Bureau Order No. 5 in 2007, during the administration of Hu Jintao.[40]

In 1992, Jiang's government formally accepted the 14th Dalai Lama's official recognition and the enthronement of Orgyen Trinley Dorje as the reincarnated 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, spiritual leader of the Karma Kagyu school. The recognition process was led by the 3rd Jamgon Kongtrul, who died in a mysterious car crash earlier in 1992. The Karmapa, along with the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, is highly respected by Tibetans and considered to be living Buddhas. By 1999, the Karmapa escaped to India and pointed to interference by the Chinese government in his spiritual leadership and studies as his motive.[41][42]

Also in 1992, 13 monks from Drepung Monastery were arrested on 12 May for protesting peacefully. Samdup was jailed for seven years, and in 2020, became the fourth former political prisoner to die from medical complications within the previous six months.[43]

In 1994, a Chinese policy called "grasping with both hands" was implemented in Tibet, targeting Tibetan Buddhism and culture. It was credited with leading to the 2008 Tibetan unrest.[44]

On May 17, 1995, Jiang's government officially reversed its acceptance policy of recognized re-incarnated lamas and of Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leaders, and abducted Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama, three days after his official recognition by the Dalai Lama. Chadrel Rinpoche and two others involved in the recognition process were also disappeared, then imprisoned. Months later, in November, Jiang's government installed its proxy Panchen Lama, Gyaltsen Norbu. The recognized 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, continues to be forcibly detained in an unknown location.[45][46]

In 1996, Jiang's administration officially banned all photographs of Tibet's spiritual leader, the 14th Dalai Lama.[47]

By March 1998, the Central Tibetan Administration reported the Dalai Lama statement that Chinese campaigns of repression had spread beyond monasteries and nunneries, and that Jiang was undertaking "a deliberate policy of cultural genocide in Tibet".[48]

In 2001, the Chinese government began persecuting and forcibly evicting nuns and monks studying at Larung Gar Buddhist Academy and Yarchen Gar in Tibet.[49]

### Christians

Christianity was the religion most systemically discriminated against in China prior to the founding of the People's Republic of China.[50]: 351 Chinese emperors were concerned of whether foreign authorities, particularly the Vatican, would gain control over Chinese Christians.[50]: 351–352 Many Chinese people were concerned that Christianity would replace traditional Chinese cultural identity.[50]: 352

According to Human Rights Watch, Christians who met in private homes, including those involved in underground churches and house churches, and did not register with the authorities, were repeatedly detained, fined, or harassed by the police. On January 27, 1994, Huang Fangxin was arrested and labeled a "ringleader of an illegal religious organization" due to his involvement in "illegal religious" activities, which included organizing a gospel team.[51]

Harsher punishments, including lengthy imprisonment terms, were imposed on those identified by the authorities as leaders of "illegal" religious groups. In 1996, it was reported that some Christians in Zhoukou, Henan Province, were so frightened that they dared not stay in their homes. Instead, they had to sleep and worship in the fields.[52]

In August 2000, the authorities arrested 130 members of an underground Christian church in central China. According to reports, the family church group had 500,000 members and refused to register with the authorities. The founder of the church, Zhang Rongliang, was charged of leading a "cult" and sentenced to two years in forced labor camp in December 2000.[53]

In November–December 2000, the authorities destroyed, closed, or confiscated about 400 unregistered Protestant and Catholic church buildings in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, alone, as a part of the most destructive campaign since the late 1970s.[54]

### Muslims

On May 18, 1996, state media Xinjiang Daily under Jiang's administration, published a commentary on the government policy, stating "Freedom of religious belief is not freedom for religion."[52] According to Ethan Gutmann, a China analyst and human-rights investigator, the Chinese government began harvesting organs from members of the predominantly Muslim Uyghur ethnic minority group in the 1990s.[55] "Each year, about 25,000-50,000 captive Uyghurs go missing," wrote Gutmann.[55] Other reports also concluded the targeted populations of state-sanctioned organ harvest include Uyghurs in Xinjiang in addition to Falun Gong.[36][56]

## 2002–2012: Hu Jintao administration

Under the Hu–Wen Administration from 2002 to 2012, land redevelopment was used as a form of religious persecution, while the demolition of spiritually sacred buildings and sites was undertaken.[57]

### Falun Gong

In June 2005, Gao Rongrong, a 37-year-old accountant from Liaoning Province, died in custody after two years at the Longshan Forced Labor Camp.[58] According to Amnesty International, she had been tortured with electric shocks to her face and neck, resulting in severe burns.[58]

In January 2008, police detained musician Yu Zhou and his wife after finding CDs and printed materials about Falun Gong in their car. Zhou was taken into custody and died 10 days later.[59][60] His wife was sentenced to three years in a forced labor camp.[59]

Human Rights Watch reported in 2005 that Falun Gong practitioners constituted the majority of detainees in the camps examined and endured the "longest sentences and worst treatment."[61] "The government's campaign against the group has been so thorough that even long-time Chinese activists are afraid to say the group's name aloud," according to the report.[61]

### Tibetan Buddhists

In 2006, Tibetans were arrested after responding to calls from the Dalai Lama to burn animal skin clothing. Bonfires spread throughout Tibet as a form of defiance.[62]

On 13 July 2007, the State Religious Affairs Bureau Order No. 5 was passed, requiring reincarnated lamas and religious institutions in Tibet to apply for permission with state bureaus so as to be considered legal.[40]

The persecution of Tibetan Buddhists escalated under Hu Jintao, leading to the 2008 Tibetan unrest. The uprising is described as the biggest challenge to China's invasion since 1959.[63] As unrest over Chinese persecution grew, waves of protests began, including street demonstrations, which were met with excessive force.[64]

A farming boycott began in 2009 in protest for those people detained or "disappeared" into the CCP's custody. Civil disobedience became widespread, as all the monks in a Jomda, Chamdo province monastery deserted in June 2009 instead of participating in "patriotic education".[65]

Acts of self-immolation began in 2009 at Kirti Monastery.[66] In 2010, two Tibetan laypeople were killed while trying to stop a mass arrest of approximately 300 monks at Kirti Monastery.[67][68]

In 2011, China's foreign ministry announced only Beijing could appoint the 15th Dalai Lama.[69] A monk at Nyitso monastery, Tsewang Norbu, self-immolated after chanting "Long live the Dalai Lama" and "Tibetan people want freedom". The non-profit organization Free Tibet said telephone and internet services were subsequently cut to keep the news from spreading, and the monastery's utilities had been repeatedly cut. Author Tsering Woeser said that Chinese security forces surrounded the monastery on the same night of Tsewang Norbu's death.[68]

## 2012–present: Xi Jinping administration

The Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party, led by Xi Jinping from 2012 to the present, intensified antireligious campaigns in the country.[70][71] In 2016, Xi called for "improved religious work" by uniting religious and non-religious people, and emphasizing that members of the Chinese Communist Party must act as "unyielding Marxist atheists".[72]

In September 2019, the UN Human Rights Council was told by the China Tribunal that the Government of China "is harvesting and selling organs from persecuted religious and ethnic minorities on an industrial scale".[73] The tribunal concluded that religious and ethnic minorities are being "killed to order... cut open while still alive for their kidneys, livers, hearts, lungs, cornea, and skin to be removed and turned into commodities for sale".[73]

### New religious movements

Although Xi Jinping abolished the "reeducation through labor" system in 2013,[74] Amnesty International reported that Falun Gong practitioners are among those particularly at risk of torture.[75] Scholar André Laliberté argues that the CCP continues to target Falun Gong for repression because it perceives the movement as a challenge to its authority.[76] Reports express concerns that the CCP subjects Falun Gong practitioners and ethnic Uyghurs to organ harvesting.[77][78]

In 2014, proselytizing members of a new religious movement murdered a woman named Wu Shuoyan at a McDonald's restaurant in Zhaoyuan when she refused to provide them her phone number.[10]: 188 Different views of the murderers' affiliations exist: they were either members of Eastern Lightning (itself an offshoot of The Shouters),[10]: 188 or a further offshoot of Eastern Lightning. The murder prompted a wave of government campaigns to crack down on what the state deems as "evil cults".[10]: 188 Eastern Lightning's mode of expansion is to proselytize among independent Protestant congregations (commonly termed house churches), and many leaders among these Protestant communities have criticized Eastern Lightning and assisted the state's efforts.[10]: 188

### Tibetan Buddhists

According to a report by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, under Xi Jinping, the widespread targeting of Tibetans and Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, together with the persecution of ordained Khenpos, nuns, and monks, escalated.[79] Han Chinese settling in Tibet also continues.[80]

Massive redevelopment projects, including railways, mines, roadways, dams, and shopping centers forcibly displace Tibetans and erode the environment.[81] From 2015 to the present, farmlands and ancestral nomadic grazing lands are also being confiscated from Tibetans.[82]

Reports state that administrators of monasteries have been replaced by police or by people considered government infiltrators, while military surveillance units have been installed at Kirti Monastery, Yarchen Gar, Shak Rongpo Gaden Dargyeling Monastery, and at other monasteries, along with CCTV cameras.[83][84] Drongna Monastery was forcibly closed in 2013, and its chant master Thardhod Gyaltsen received an 18-year prison sentence in 2014 for possession of a picture and recording of the 14th Dalai Lama.[85][86]

Some also express concerns that construction and tourism are eroding Tibetan culture.[87] By 2020, after Chinese state-sponsored tourist agencies funneled people from inner China to Lhasa, reports stated that the tourists disrupted ceremonies, were disrespectful to Tibetan customs, and threw trash around sacred sites. Police support the tourists confronted by complaints.[88]

Reports also indicate tourism is used to disrupt monastic life within Buddhist monasteries.[67] Monastic residences of nuns and monks were demolished before mass evictions began in 2016 at Larung Gar, in 2019 at Yarchen Gar, in 2013 at Jhada Gon Palden Khachoe Nunnery, and elsewhere. For Yarchen Gar alone, almost six thousand monks and nuns were evicted from their homes.[89] Between 2017 and 2018, at least 4,820 Tibetan and Han Chinese monks and nuns were removed from Larung Gar, and over 7,000 dwellings and other structures were demolished, which began in 2001.[89][90] Reports indicate that nuns and nunneries are targeted for demolition more often than those of monks. Tourist accommodations and roads replaced the residences, or are planned for the sites where residences were demolished. Other monasteries are partially renovated for tourist accommodations, whose proximity disrupts daily life.[67]

After the mass evictions, nuns and monks were bused away, and reportedly detained in re-education centers.[80] Among others, an identified re-education center is named Ningtri.[91] Reports include beatings and the torture of monastics and laypeople at re-education centers, and in jails after arrests.[92]

In 2016, the CCP commenced a campaign to sinicize religion, which intensified after 2018.[93][94] The sinicization of Tibet was condemned by the Dalai Lama as cultural cleansing.[95]

The ethnic cleansing policies in Tibet were managed by hardliner Chen Quanguo, before his 2016 transfer to govern Xinjiang.[96] A United States Department of State report in 2019 documented incidents of sexual abuse, rape, and gender-based violence at the Chinese detention centers.[97]

In April 2019, the Chinese police-enforced ban against photographs of the Dalai Lama spread to remote areas of Tibet.[98]

Under Xi Jinping's authority, the CCP's cultural and political "Sinicization" policies have been implemented in schools to indoctrinate Tibetan children with the CCP's ideology.[99] According to United Nations Special Rapporteurs in 2023, Tibetan children are forced to complete a compulsory education curriculum in Mandarin Chinese as part of the CCP's policy of forced assimilation.[100] Radio Free Asia reported that, in early 2024, the CCP intensified efforts to enforce a ban by going door-to-door to prevent Tibetan children from taking private classes and participating in religious activities during school breaks.[101]

### Christians

The persecution of members of other spiritual organizations is also continuing under Xi Jinping. Journalist Ian Johnson noted that officials have targeted Christianity, and Islam, with particular intensity because of their perceived foreign ties.[102] In the Chinese province of Zhejiang alone, over 1200 Christian crosses have been removed from their steeples since 2013.[103][104]

In August 2017, in Shanxi province, a number of Catholic priests and supporters were injured while preventing a government-owned bulldozer from demolishing a church-owned property—an old factory building allocated to the Church as restitution for a church-owned property destroyed in 1992. Local authorities unanimously decided the condition of the property met the criteria for demolition, as required by the city's planned transportation network project. However, the diocese complained they were denied an opportunity to negotiate, and were given no assurance of fair compensation.[105][106] In February 2018, government authorities in Kashgar, "launched an anti-religion propaganda drive through local police stations", which included policemen erecting a banner proclaiming, "We Must Solemnly Reject Religion, Must Not Believe in Religion".[107]

In December 2018, Chinese officials raided Christian house churches just prior to Christmas and coerced their owners to close them down. Christmas trees and Santa Clauses were also removed.[108][109] In 2018, the United Front Work Department initiated a crackdown on large outdoor religious statues.[110][111]

The government of China continued to persecute Christians during the 2019 COVID-19 pandemic, demolishing the Xiangbaishu Church in Yixing and removing a Christian Cross from the steeple of a church in Guiyang County.[112] In Shandong Province, "officials issued guidance forbidding online preaching, a vital way for churches to reach congregants amid both persecution and the spread of the virus".[113][112]

In 2020, the Chinese government put additional regulations in place to restrict religious education and proselytizing.[114] It issued new regulations in September 2025, limiting religious activity online to channels registered with the authorities.[115] In October 2025, the Chinese government arrested dozens of Zion Church members in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and other cities.[115][116]

### Muslims

Mosque with dome removed due to Sinicization policy

By November 2018, the Chinese government had detained over one million Uyghurs in internment camps as part of a thought reform campaign, "where Uyghur Muslims are remade into atheist Chinese subjects"[57][117][118] and subjected to forced labor.[119][120] For children forcibly taken away from their parents, the Chinese government has established kindergartens with the aim of combating 'three evil forces' (separatism, extremism, and terrorism), and "converting future generations of Uyghur Muslim children into loyal subjects who embrace atheism".[121][118][122] According to estimates from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, under Xi Jinping, thousands of mosques and Muslim religious sites were damaged or destroyed in China.[123] The Chinese government has intensified its repression by using artificial intelligence facial recognition cameras against the Uyghurs, both outside and inside places of worship.[124][125][126] Government campaigns against Islam have extended to the Hui people and Utsul community in Hainan.[127][122][128][129]

Chinese officials did not acknowledge the existence of any sort of internment camps. The Chinese government states that Uyghurs are being sent to vocational training centers in order to prevent the spread of extremism and to increase their employability.[130] Muslim prisoners in detention centers and internment camps have faced practices such as being force-fed pork.[131] Prohibitions on fasting during Ramadan are couched in terms of protecting residents' free will.[132]

In November 2019, the internment centers were described in the leaked Xinjiang papers.[57][133]

A 2020 Associated Press investigation found that in an effort to reduce the Muslim population, the state subjects minority women to pregnancy checks and imposes intrauterine devices (IUDs), sterilization, and abortion on hundreds of thousands. While the use of IUDs and sterilization had declined in China, it had sharply increased in Xinjiang.[134][135] The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) cautioned that China's oppressive population control policies targeting Uyghurs and other Muslim groups—including forced sterilization—could legally constitute genocide under international law.[136]

### Jews

See also: History of the Jews in China and Antisemitism in China

The Kaifeng Jewish community has reported increasing suppression by the authorities since 2015, this campaign of repression has resulted in a reversal of the modest revival which the Kaifeng Jewish community experienced in the 1990s. The public performance of religious services and the celebration of religious festivals like Passover and Sukkot have been prohibited, and Jewish community groups have been shut down.[137]

### Mormons

In 2025, the Chinese government banned congregations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in China throughout the country.[138]

## Responses in the United States

On September 4, 2000, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a release stating the "already deplorable" China's record on religious freedom had "further deteriorated," citing "reliable press reports" of religious repression against Falun Gong, Zhong Gong, Uighur Muslims, Protestant and Roman Catholic Christians and Tibet Buddhists.[139]

On July 24, 2002, U.S. House of Representatives passed a unanimous resolution (House Concurrent Resolution 188) condemning the persecution of Falun Gong in China.[140]

In June 2020, the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act was signed into law in the United States in response to the internment camps in Xinjiang.[141] In December 2021, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act became law to ensure that American entities do not fund forced labor in Xinjiang.[142][143] The law presumes that all goods originating from Xinjiang, where Beijing has established internment camps, are produced using forced labor.[142][143]

In December 2020, the Tibet Policy and Support Act became law in the United States in support of Tibetan Buddhists' right to determine Dalai Lama succession.[144][145]

In March 2023, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2023, which would impose sanctions and penalties on individuals involved in state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting, particularly targeting the Falun Gong and Uyghur communities.[146]

In May 2023, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio and Jeff Merkley introduced the Uyghur Genocide Accountability and Sanctions Act (UGSA) to hold the CCP accountable for human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in Xinjiang.[147] In April 2024, the U.S. Congressional Uyghur Caucus introduced the House's version of the UGASA.[148]

In June 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Falun Gong Protection Act, which seeks to impose sanctions on anyone involved in involuntary organ harvesting, with an emphasis on those targeting Falun Gong members.[149][150]

## See also

* Human rights in China
* Freedom of religion in China
* Persecution of Falun Gong
* Transnational repression by China
* Four Buddhist Persecutions in China

## References

1. ↑ Asiaweek, Volume 10. 1984. https://books.google.com/books?id=dIMMAQAAMAAJ&q=cemetery+Tan+Houlan. Retrieved 2017-09-03.
2. ↑ Jeni Hung (April 5, 2003). "Children of confucius". The Spectator. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3724/is_200304/ai_n9228762. Retrieved 2007-03-04.
3. ↑ Buang, Sa'eda; Chew, Phyllis Ghim-Lian (9 May 2014) (in en). Muslim Education in the 21st Century: Asian Perspectives. Routledge. p. 75. ISBN 978-1-317-81500-6. "Subsequently, a new China was found on the basis of Communist ideology, i.e. atheism. Within the framework of this ideology, religion is treated as a 'contorted' world-view and believed that religion would disappear at the end, along with the development of human society. A series of anti-religious campaigns was implemented by the Chinese Communist Party from the early 1950s to the late 1970s. As a result, in nearly 30 years between the beginning of the 1950s and the end of the 1970s, Christian churches, mosques (as well as Chinese temples) were shut down and Imams involved in forced 're-education'."
4. ↑ Blondeau, Anne-Marie; Buffetrille, Katia (8 April 2008). Authenticating Tibet. University of California Press. p. 165. ISBN 9780520249288. https://archive.org/details/authenticatingti00anne. "This virulent anti-religion campaign seems to be officially linked to the development plan for western Tibet, for which social stability is necessary (see Part VIII, "Economic Development," below). But the hardening of this policy in Tibet is probably another consequence of the spread of atheism which was launched in China, in response to the religious problems which are mentioned above, including problems inside the Party."
5. ↑ Dark, K. R. (2000), "Large-Scale Religious Change and World Politics", Religion and International Relations (London: Palgrave Macmillan UK): pp. 50–82, doi:10.1057/9781403916594_3, ISBN 978-1-349-27846-6, "Interestingly, atheist campaigns were most effective against traditional Chinese religions and Buddhism, whereas Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities not only survived these campaigns, but they were some of the most vocal centers of political opposition to the government as a consequence of them."
6. ↑ "China announces "civilizing" atheism drive in Tibet". BBC Online. 12 January 1999. https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/monitoring/253345.stm. "The Chinese Communist Party has launched a three-year drive to promote atheism in the Buddhist region of Tibet, saying it is the key to economic progress and a weapon against separatism as typified by the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama. The move comes amid fresh foreign reports of religious persecution in the region, which was invaded by China in 1950."
7. ↑ Johnson, Ian (April 23, 2017). "In China, Unregistered Churches Are Driving a Religious Revolution". The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/04/china-unregistered-churches-driving-religious-revolution/521544/. "'It's hardly celebrated here at all,' he said. 'We had this break in our history—you know, the missionaries being expelled in 1949 and then the anti-religious campaigns—so a lot has been lost. A lot of people don't really know too much about Lent. We had a service trying to reintroduce the idea and explain it'."
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 Wong, Stephanie M. (2025). Making Catholicism Chinese: the Catholic Church in a Modernizing China. New York, NY, United States of America: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/9780197623725.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-762369-5.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 Goossaert, Vincent (2006). "1898: The Beginning of the End for Chinese Religion?". Journal of Asian Studies 65 (2): 307-366. doi:10.1017/S0021911806000672.
10. ↑ 10.00 10.01 10.02 10.03 10.04 10.05 10.06 10.07 10.08 10.09 10.10 10.11 10.12 10.13 10.14 10.15 10.16 10.17 Sun, Yanfei (2026). Religious Change in Post-Mao China: Toward a New Sociology of Religion. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-84585-2.
11. ↑ Overmyer, Daniel L. (2009). Local Religion in North China in the Twentieth Century the Structure and Organization of Community Rituals and Beliefs. Leiden; Boston, MA: Brill. ISBN 978-90-474-2936-4. http://cnqzu.com/library/To Organize/Books/Brill Ebooks/Brill._Handbook_of_Oriental_Studies/Brill. Handbook of Oriental Studies/Local_Religion_in_North_China_in_the_Twentieth_Century__Handbook_of_Oriental_Studies_.pdf. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 Kang, Xiaofei (2023). Enchanted Revolution: Ghosts, Shamans, and Gender Politics in Chinese Communist Propaganda, 1942-1953. New York (N.Y.): Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-765447-7.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Smith, S.A. (2015). "Redemptive Religious Societies and the Communist State, 1949 to the 1980s". in Brown, Jeremy. Maoism at the Grassroots: Everyday Life in China's Era of High Socialism. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674287204.
14. ↑ "10 things to know about China's policies on religion". October 23, 2023. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/10/23/10-things-to-know-about-chinas-policies-on-religion/.
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Li, Hongshan (2024). Fighting on the Cultural Front: U.S.-China Relations in the Cold War. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. doi:10.7312/li--20704. ISBN 9780231207058.
16. ↑ Buang, Sa'eda; Chew, Phyllis Ghim-Lian (9 May 2014). Muslim Education in the 21st Century: Asian Perspectives. Routledge. p. 75. ISBN 9781317815006. OCLC 880235482. "Subsequently, a new China was found on the basis of Communist ideology, i.e. atheism. Within the framework of this ideology, religion was treated as a 'contorted' world-view and people were taught to believe that it would eventually disappear, an inevitable result of the development of human societies. A series of anti-religious campaigns was implemented by the Chinese Communist Party from the early 1950s to the late 1970s. As a result, in nearly 30 years between the beginning of the 1950s and the end of the 1970s, mosques (as well as churches and Chinese temples) were shut down and Imams were subjected to forced 're-education'."
17. ↑ "Freedom in the World – The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties 1998-1999". https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2020-02/Freedom_in_the_World_1998-1999_complete_book.pdf.
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "China's Hand Lies Heavy on Tibetan Buddhists" (in en-US). 1998-11-10. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-nov-10-mn-41284-story.html.
19. ↑ Grim, Brian J.; Finke, Roger (2010). The Price of Freedom Denied: Religious Persecution and Conflict in the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511762345. ISBN 9781139492416. OCLC 1104455711. "Seeking a complete annihilation of religion, places of worship were shut down; temples, churches, and mosques were destroyed; artifacts were smashed; sacred texts were burnt; and it was a criminal offence even to possess a religious artifact or sacred text. Atheism had long been the official doctrine of the Chinese Communist Party, but this new form of militant atheism made every effort to eradicate religion completely."
20. ↑ Pittman, Don Alvin (2001). Toward a Modern Chinese Buddhism: Taixu's Reforms. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 9780824822316. "Yet in the first years after Liberation there were places in China where monasteries were destroyed, monks were beaten or killed, copies of the Buddhist canon were burned, and sacred images were melted down for their metal."
21. ↑ Madsen, Richard (2 March 2009). "Back to the Future: Pre-modern Religious Policy in Post-Secular China" (in en-US). https://www.fpri.org/article/2009/03/back-to-the-future-pre-modern-religious-policy-in-post-secular-china/.
22. ↑ Mariani, Paul Philip (2025). China's Church Divided: Bishop Louis Jin and the Post-Mao Catholic Revival. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-29765-4.
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "CNN - Falun Gong members defy China's crackdown - July 23, 1999". http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/asiapcf/9907/23/china.protests.01/.
24. ↑ Brauchli, Marcus W. (July 29, 1999). "Falun Dafa Feels Effects Of Chinese Crackdown". The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB933181750946153268.
25. ↑ Xiao, Ming (2012). The Cultural Economy of Falun Gong in China: A Rhetorical Perspective. University of South Carolina Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctv6wgmf9. ISBN 9781611172072. OCLC 826659831.
26. ↑ "CNN - Chinese sect goes underground to stay alive - August 17, 1999". http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/asiapcf/9908/17/china.group/.
27. ↑ Pomfret, John (November 12, 1999). "Cracks in China's Crackdown - Falun Gong Campaign Exposes Leadership Woes". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPcap/1999-11/12/062r-111299-idx.html.
28. ↑ "Dangerous Meditation - China's Campaign Against Falungong". February 7, 2002. https://www.hrw.org/report/2002/02/07/dangerous-meditation/chinas-campaign-against-falungong?gad_source=1.
29. ↑ "China: The crackdown on Falun Gong and other so-called "heretical organizations"". March 23, 2000. https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa17/011/2000/en/.
30. ↑ Pan, Philip (October 1, 2000). "Falun Gong Protesters Stun Beijing". Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2000/10/02/falun-gong-protesters-stun-beijing/71cdf389-1e66-4d31-b8a7-8b64c08e627a/.
31. ↑ "Ian Johnson of The Wall Street Journal". https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/ian-johnson.
32. ↑ Johnson, Ian (April 20, 2000). "Practicing Falun Gong Was a Right, Ms. Chen Said, up to Her Last Day". https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB956186343489597132.
33. ↑ Griffiths, James (June 24, 2016). "Report: China still harvesting organs from prisoners at a massive scale". https://edition.cnn.com/2016/06/23/asia/china-organ-harvesting/index.html.
34. ↑ Rogers, Benedict (February 5, 2019). "The Nightmare of Human Organ Harvesting in China". https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-nightmare-of-human-organ-harvesting-in-china-11549411056.
35. ↑ Caplan, Arthur L. (July 2018). "Transplant Abuse Continues Despite Claims of Reform". https://www.chinaorganharvest.org/app/uploads/2018/06/COHRC-2018-Report.pdf.
36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 36.2 "Uyghur, Falun Gong Detainees Likely Source For China's Organ Market: Report". March 12, 2020. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/organs-03122020163712.html.
37. ↑ Exile Tibetans Commemorate 1989 Martial Law, (09.03.2017), https://www.voatibetanenglish.com/a/3755465.html
38. ↑ Yardley, Jim (2008-03-15). "Violence in Tibet as Monks Clash With the Police". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/15/world/asia/15tibet.html.
39. ↑ "中共中央、国务院关于进一步做好宗教工作若干问题的通知-宗教政策-兴国禅寺" (in zh). http://xgcs.org/content/?132.html.
40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Jonathan, Kaiman (2016-03-08). "In China, the state decides who can come back from the dead". https://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-china-reincarnation-law-20160307-story.html.
41. ↑ Harding, Luke (2001-04-28). "Daring escape of the Karmapa". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/apr/28/lukeharding.
42. ↑ The Karmapa: A short biography of the early years of the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, and the lineage of Karmapas that came before him., Kagyu Office, https://kagyuoffice.org/karmapa/
43. ↑ Finney, Richard (July 17, 2020). "Tibetan Former Political Prisoner Dies After Years of Ill Health Following Release". Radio Free Asia. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/health-07172020160125.html.
44. ↑ "The Tibet issue: Tibetan view". BBC News. 2012-01-27. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-16759913.
45. ↑ Neuman, Scott (May 17, 2015). "20 Years After China Seized Boy Monk, Tibetans Call For His Release". NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/05/17/407483765/20-years-after-china-seized-boy-monk-tibetans-call-for-his-release.
46. ↑ "Tibet's missing spiritual guide". BBC News. 2005-05-16. https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4551425.stm. "Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was nominated as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama the second most important figure in Tibetan religion, culture and politics after the Dalai Lama himself. But China disagreed with the choice and arrested the boy a few days later. Mystery surrounds his fate and outside China he is known as one of the world's youngest political prisoners."
47. ↑ Sharma, Yojana (April 30, 1996). "CHINA-TIBET: Dalai Lama Photos Banned From Monasteries, Hotels". Inter Press Service. https://www.ipsnews.net/1996/04/china-tibet-dalai-lama-photos-banned-from-monasteries-hotels/.
48. ↑ His Holiness the Dalai Lama, 1998 Statement, 39th Anniversary of Tibetan Uprising Day, (10 March 1998), Central Tibetan Administration, https://tibet.net/statement-of-his-holiness-the-dalai-lama-on-the-thirty-ninth-anniversary-of-the-tibetan-national-uprising-day-10-march-1998/ , In Stark contrast to these positive aspects of the development in China proper, the situation in Tibet has sadly worsened in recent years. Of late, it has become apparent that Beijing is carrying out what amounts to a deliberate policy of cultural genocide in Tibet. The infamous "strike hard" campaign against Tibetan religion and nationalism has intensified with each passing year. This campaign of repression initially confined to monasteries and nunneries has now been extended to cover all parts of the Tibetan society. In some spheres of life in Tibet, we are witnessing the return of an atmosphere of intimidation, coercion and fear, reminiscent of the days of the Cultural Revolution.
49. ↑ Eckholm, Erik (2001-06-22). "Monitors Say China Pushes Tibet Monks From Study Site". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/22/world/monitors-say-china-pushes-tibet-monks-from-study-site.html. "Chinese authorities are skittish about any organization or movement outside party control. In recent years, they have repeatedly tried, without success up to now, to scale back the Serthar settlement and limit study there to nearby residents. This time, according to the International Campaign for Tibet, officials from Beijing as well as the provincial capital, Chengdu, have gone to the site to expel most of the students. The officials have burned down abandoned cabins to limit visitors and declared that the total number of residents should be held to 1,400, according to accounts received by the international campaign."
50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 50.2 Zhong, Yang (2024). "Attitudes Toward Religion, Science, and Technology in China". in Zhong, Yang (EPUB). China as Number One? The Emerging Values of a Rising Power. China Understandings Today series. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-07635-2. https://www.fulcrum.org/concern/monographs/vx021h696. Retrieved 2025-03-12.
51. ↑ "China: Religious Persecution Persists". December 1995. https://www.hrw.org/legacy/summaries/s.china9512.html.
52. ↑ 52.0 52.1 "People's Republic of China: Religious repression in China". June 30, 1996. https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa17/069/1996/en.
53. ↑ Cernetig, Miro (August 25, 2000). "Mass arrests taint China's 'golden age' of religion". https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/mass-arrests-taint-chinas-golden-age-of-religion/article25469785/.
54. ↑ Pan, Philip P. (December 18, 2000). "Crackdown at Christmas Dims Holiday for Chinese: Regional Assault on Illegal Churches Worst in Decades". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2000/12/18/crackdown-at-christmas-dims-holiday-for-chinese/137a31a1-f4f6-4127-af18-953defdc3198/.
55. ↑ 55.0 55.1 "Ethan Gutmann: China exploits Uyghur Muslims for their labor and organs". January 12, 2021. https://centerforsecuritypolicy.org/ethan-gutmann-china-exploits-uyghur-muslims-for-their-labor-and-organs/.
56. ↑ "Human Organ Supply: Report on Ethical Considerations and Breaches in Organ Harvesting Practices". https://www.nycbar.org/reports/human-organ-supply-report-on-ethical-considerations-and-breaches-in-organ-harvesting-practices/.
57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 57.2 Ramzy, Austin; Buckley, Chris (2019-11-16). "'Absolutely No Mercy': Leaked Files Expose How China Organized Mass Detentions of Muslims". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/16/world/asia/china-xinjiang-documents.html. "'There must be effective educational remolding and transformation of criminals,' [Xi] told officials in southern Xinjiang on the second day of his trip. 'And even after these people are released, their education and transformation must continue.' Within months, indoctrination sites began opening across Xinjiang — mostly small facilities at first, which held dozens or hundreds of Uighurs at a time for sessions intended to pressure them into disavowing devotion to Islam and professing gratitude for the party. Then in August 2016, a hard-liner named Chen Quanguo was transferred from Tibet to govern Xinjiang. Within weeks, he called on local officials to 'remobilize' around Mr. Xi's goals and declared that Mr. Xi's speeches 'set the direction for making a success of Xinjiang'."
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66. ↑ Sehgal, Parul (2020-07-15). "'Eat the Buddha' Reports From the 'World Capital of Self-Immolations'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/15/books/eat-buddha-life-death-tibetan-town-barbara-demick.html.
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98. ↑ Finney, Richard (May 29, 2019). "China Launches New Drive Against Dalai Lama Photos in Kardze". Radio Free Asia. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/drive-05292019162435.html.
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102. ↑ Johnson, Ian (2019-12-21). "China's New Civil Religion". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/21/opinion/sunday/chinas-religion-xi.html.
103. ↑ Wong, Edward (2016-02-26). "Pastor in China Who Resisted Cross Removal Gets 14 Years in Prison". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/27/world/asia/china-zhejiang-christians-pastor-crosses.html.
104. ↑ Luxmoore, Jonathan (4 December 2015). "China's Catholics fear new anti-Christian campaign". National Catholic Reporter. https://www.ncronline.org/news/world/chinas-catholics-fear-new-anti-christian-campaign. "Police began tearing down crosses in the coastal city of Wenzhou in late 2013, citing building regulations, and have since removed more than 1,200 crosses throughout Zhejiang. The campaign was protested by China's state-approved Catholic and Protestant associations, as well as by Cardinal John Tong Hon of Hong Kong, who appealed to Communist Party chiefs in August to "return to the right path." However, Catholic sources say up to 4,000 crosses may have been targeted for removal from spires and towers, while churches have also been bulldozed and numerous Christians arrested for protesting."
105. ↑ Zaimov, Stoyan (31 August 2017). "'Jesus Save Me!' Chinese Christians Shout as They Try to Save Church From Bulldozers". The Christian Post. http://www.christianpost.com/news/jesus-save-me-chinese-christians-shout-try-save-church-bulldozers-197478/.
106. ↑ "Chinese Catholics try to stop the demolition of their church in Changzhi, Shanxi (VIDEO)". AsiaNews. 29 August 2017. http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Chinese-Catholics-try-to-stop-the-demolition-of-their-church-in-Changzhi,-Shanxi-(VIDEO)-41637.html.
107. ↑ Shohret Hoshur (12 February 2018). "Xinjiang Authorities Launch Anti-Religion Campaign Through Local Police Stations". Radio Free Asia. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/campaign-02122018154124.html.
108. ↑ "Alarm over China's Church crackdown". BBC. 18 December 2018. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-46588650. "Among those arrested are a prominent pastor and his wife, of the Early Rain Covenant Church in Sichuan. Both have been charged with state subversion. And on Saturday morning, dozens of police raided a children's Bible class at Rongguili Church in Guangzhou. One Christian in Chengdu told the BBC: "I'm lucky they haven't found me yet." China is officially atheist, though says it allows religious freedom."
109. ↑ "Santa Claus won't be coming to this town, as Chinese officials ban Christmas". South China Morning Post. 18 December 2018. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2178532/santa-claus-wont-be-coming-town-chinese-officials-ban-christmas. "Christmas is not a recognised holiday in mainland China – where the ruling party is officially atheist – and for many years authorities have taken a tough stance on anyone who celebrates it in public. ... The statement by Langfang officials said that anyone who was caught selling Christmas trees, wreaths, stockings or Santa Claus figures in the city would be punished. ... While the ban on the sale of Christmas goods might appear to be directed at retailers, it also comes amid a crackdown on Christians who are practising their religion across the country. On Saturday morning, more than 60 police officers and officials stormed a children's Bible class in Guangzhou, the capital of southern China's Guangdong province. The incident came after authorities shut down the 1,500-member Zion Church in Beijing in September and Chengdu's 500-member Early Rain Covenant Church last week. In the case of the latter, about 100 worshippers were snatched from their homes or from the streets in coordinated raids."
110. ↑ "China orders crackdown on large outdoor religious statues". Associated Press. 2018-05-26. https://apnews.com/5a9c70110c524804856897a091e79036.
111. ↑ "China orders crackdown on outdoor religious statues". The Week. May 26, 2018. https://www.theweek.in/news/world/2018/05/26/china-orders-crackdown-on-outdoor-religious-statues.html.
112. ↑ 112.0 112.1 Klett, Leah MarieAnn (21 March 2020). "China demolishes church, removes crosses as Christians worship at home". The Christian Post. https://www.christianpost.com/news/china-demolishes-church-removes-crosses-as-christians-worship-at-home.html.
113. ↑ Parke, Caleb (23 March 2020). "In coronavirus fight, China hasn't stopped persecuting Christians: watchdog". Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/world/coronavirus-china-update-christian-persecution-vom.
114. ↑ Lau, Mimi (September 6, 2020). "China doubles down against foreign teachers spreading Christianity". South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3100406/china-doubles-down-against-foreign-teachers-spreading.
115. ↑ 115.0 115.1 Wang, Vivian (October 11, 2025). "China Detains Dozens of Members of Underground Church". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/world/asia/china-church-pastor-detained.html.
116. ↑ "China is rounding up Christian leaders". The Economist. October 16, 2025. ISSN 0013-0613. https://www.economist.com/china/2025/10/16/china-is-rounding-up-christian-leaders.
117. ↑ Rob, Schmitz (May 3, 2019). "China Detains Hundreds Of Thousands Of Muslims In 'Training Centers'". https://www.npr.org/2019/05/03/719897164/china-detains-thousands-of-muslims-in-vocational-training-centers.
118. ↑ 118.0 118.1 Beydoun, Khaled A.. "For China, Islam is a 'mental illness' that needs to be 'cured'". Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/china-islam-mental-illness-cured-181127135358356.html.
119. ↑ Mendoza, Martha (March 3, 2020). "Rights group: Lacoste gloves made in Chinese internment camp". https://apnews.com/general-news-1540bd241b7a7e9d7e80d0a0ad2089fe#:~:text=Gloves made in China for,U.S.-based labor rights group..
120. ↑ Lehr, Amy K.; Bechrakis, Efthimia Maria ("Mariefaye") (October 16, 2019). "Connecting the Dots in Xinjiang: Forced Labor, Forced Assimilation, and Western Supply Chains". Center for Strategic and International Studies. https://www.csis.org/analysis/connecting-dots-xinjiang-forced-labor-forced-assimilation-and-western-supply-chains.
121. ↑ Sudworth, John (2019-07-04). "China separating Muslim children from families". BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-48825090.
122. ↑ 122.0 122.1 Emily, Feng (September 26, 2019). "'Afraid We Will Become The Next Xinjiang': China's Hui Muslims Face Crackdown". NPR. https://www.npr.org/2019/09/26/763356996/afraid-we-will-become-the-next-xinjiang-chinas-hui-muslims-face-crackdown.
123. ↑ Buckley, Chris; Ramzy, Austin (2020-09-25). "China Is Erasing Mosques and Precious Shrines in Xinjiang". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/25/world/asia/xinjiang-china-religious-site.html.
124. ↑ "Life Inside China's Total Surveillance State". December 19, 2017. https://www.wsj.com/video/life-inside-chinas-total-surveillance-state/CE86DA19-D55D-4F12-AC6A-3B2A573492CF.
125. ↑ "Religious Freedom in China's High-Tech Surveillance State". September 2019. https://www.uscirf.gov/countries/china/religious-freedom-chinas-high-tech-surveillance-state.
126. ↑ "China Under Cover". 2020. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/china-undercover/.
127. ↑ Myers, Steven Lee (2019-09-22). "A Crackdown on Islam Is Spreading Across China". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/21/world/asia/china-islam-crackdown.html.
128. ↑ Feng, Emily (November 21, 2020). "China Targets Muslim Scholars And Writers With Increasingly Harsh Restrictions". NPR. https://www.npr.org/2020/11/21/932169863/china-targets-muslim-scholars-and-writers-with-increasingly-harsh-restrictions.
129. ↑ Baptista, Eduardo (2020-09-28). "Tiny Muslim community becomes latest target for China's religious crackdown". https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3103253/tiny-muslim-community-chinas-far-south-becomes-latest-target.
130. ↑ Soliev, Nodirbek (2019). "Uyghur Violence and Jihadism in China and Beyond". Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses 11 (1): 71–75. ISSN 2382-6444.
131. ↑ Regencia, Ted (4 December 2020). "Uighurs forced to eat pork as China expands Xinjiang pig farms". https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/4/holduighurs-forced-to-eat-pork-as-hog-farming-in-xinjiang-expands.
132. ↑ "What Ramadan is like in Xinjiang". The Economist. 11 April 2024. ISSN 0013-0613. https://www.economist.com/china/2024/04/11/what-ramadan-is-like-in-xinjiang.
133. ↑ Kuo, Lily (17 November 2019). "'Show no mercy': leaked documents reveal details of China's Xinjiang detentions". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/17/show-no-mercy-leaked-documents-reveal-details-of-chinas-mass-xinjiang-detentions.
134. ↑ "China cuts Uighur births with IUDs, abortion, sterilization". 2020-06-29. https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-international-news-weekend-reads-china-health-269b3de1af34e17c1941a514f78d764c.
135. ↑ Samuel, Sigal (2021-03-10). "China's genocide against the Uyghurs, in 4 disturbing charts". https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22311356/china-uyghur-birthrate-sterilization-genocide.
136. ↑ "USCIRF Warns that Forced Sterilization of Uyghur Muslims is Evidence of Genocide". June 30, 2020. https://www.uscirf.gov/release-statements/uscirf-warns-forced-sterilization-uyghur-muslims-evidence-genocide.
137. ↑ Buckley, Chris (September 24, 2016). "Chinese Jews of Ancient Lineage Huddle Under Pressure". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/25/world/asia/china-kaifeng-jews.html.
138. ↑ Fletcher Stack, Peggy (July 4, 2025). "LDS Church suffers setback in China as government shuts down congregations in Beijing and other cities". https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2025/07/04/lds-branches-shut-down-beijing/.
139. ↑ "Commission Statement on Religious Persecution in China". September 4, 2000. https://www.uscirf.gov/news-room/releases-statements/commission-statement-religious-persecution-china.
140. ↑ "House Measure Calls on China to Stop Persecuting Falun Gong". July 25, 2002. https://usinfo.org/wf-archive/2002/020725/epf405.htm.
141. ↑ "China protests as US House passes Uygur bill demanding sanctions over Xinjiang". 2019-12-04. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3040466/us-house-passes-uygur-law-demanding-sanctions-china-over-human.
142. ↑ 142.0 142.1 Brunnstrom, David; Grant, Paul (December 23, 2021). "Biden signs bill banning goods from China's Xinjiang over forced labor". https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-signs-bill-clamp-down-products-chinas-xinjiang-2021-12-23/#:~:text=WASHINGTON, Dec 23 (Reuters),provoking an angry Chinese condemnation..
143. ↑ 143.0 143.1 Flacks, Marti; Songy, Madeleine (June 27, 2022). "The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Goes into Effect". Center for Strategic and International Studies. https://www.csis.org/analysis/uyghur-forced-labor-prevention-act-goes-effect.
144. ↑ "U.S. bolsters support for Taiwan and Tibet, angering China". Reuters. 2020-12-28. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-china-idUSKBN2920JZ.
145. ↑ "Trump signs Tibet policy to preempt Chinese move on Dalai Lama's succession". The Tribune. December 28, 2020. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/world/trump-signs-tibet-policy-to-preempt-chinese-move-on-dalai-lamas-succession-190543.
146. ↑ "US House Passes Bill to Combat Forced Organ Harvesting". 28 March 2023. https://www.ncregister.com/cna/us-house-passes-bill-to-combat-forced-organ-harvesting.
147. ↑ "US bill seeks 'enhanced' Uyghur genocide". June 2, 2023. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/senate-sanctions-france-06022023145810.html.
148. ↑ "US Congressional Uyghur Caucus introduces new sanctions bill". April 2024. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/sanctions-act-04292024172922.html.
149. ↑ Leonard, Owen (August 9, 2024). "First known survivor of Chinese organ harvesting speaks out". The Sun via news.com.au. https://www.news.com.au/technology/first-known-survivor-of-chinese-organ-harvesting-speaks-out/news-story/c69bddd5530e1ca115512f689c65d78b.
150. ↑ Cleave, Iona (2024-08-09). "Chinese organ harvesting victim woke up chained to bed with parts of liver and lung missing". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/08/09/organ-harvesting-survivor-cheng-pei-ming-china/.

## External links

* United States Commission on International Religious Freedom - China reports

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