Senator Budd and Tillis Call For Sanctions on the CCP For Religious Freedom Crackdown in China
Today, Senator Ted Budd announced his sponsorship of S.3164 “Combatting the Persecution of Religious Groups in China” to enact the full force of American sanctions of members of the Chinese Communist Party who violate religious freedom in China. Congressman Mark Alford (R-MO-4). In the Senate, the legislation is sponsored by Sen. Thom Tillis (R- N.C.), Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R- TN), Sen. Ashley Mood (R-FL) and Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK). In the House the legislation is sponsored by Greg Steube (R-Fla.-17), Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas-02), and Michael McCaul (R-Texas-10) co-sponsored the companion legislation in the House of Representative.
“China’s disdain for religious freedom is not new. It is an ongoing and brutal pattern of abuse that must be met with steadfast American strength. As the leader of the free world, the United States must promote religious freedom around the world and hold China’s authoritarian regime responsible for decades of persecution targeting Christians and other religious minorities. The CCP’s restrictions on freedom of religion and cruelty toward religious minorities in China must come to an end,” said Senator Budd. Senator Budd expanded his position on this issue in his op-ed published on The Hill.
The legislation was filed on the 27th anniversary of International Religious Freedom Day and would implement strict sanctions on any CCP officials who persecutes Christians or any other minority. Read the full bill text HERE.
The Combatting the Persecution of Religious Groups in China Act would:
Impose sanctions on CCP officials who are responsible for or directly carrying out religious freedom abuse such as arbitrary imprisonment, forced labor, and broader restrictions on freedom of religion or belief.
Strengthens efforts to combat the ongoing persecution of Protestant Christians, Catholics, Muslims, Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners and other religious minorities in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) within Department of State’s programs, including its Bureau of East and Pacific Affairs.
Expresses the sense of Congress that China should continue to be designated as a Country of Particular Concern.
“The Chinese government has an abysmal human rights record and has persecuted its citizens for practicing their faith for far too long. As co-chair of the Senate Human Rights Caucus and a participant in the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission’s Defending Freedom Project, I remain deeply committed to highlighting China’s ongoing persecution of religious leaders like Pastor Wang Yi, who has been unjustly detained for the past seven years. The United States must continue to hold China accountable and ensure that its blatant disregard for religious freedom is considered in all future diplomatic and trade negotiations,” said Senator Tillis.
Here are some of the key examples highlighted by Senator Budd of the Chinese Communist Party cracking down on religious freedom. There is likely significantly more repression than what has been publicly reported, given China’s censorship regime.
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.
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.
