CCP’s Suppression of Religious Communities Exposed in US Religious Freedom Report
According to the report, organs are harvested from Falun Gong and Uyghurs, some even while they are still alive.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) identified communist China as one of the worst violators of religious freedom in the world, as stated in its 2024 annual report released on May 1.
“Religious communities are enduring oppression under Chinese Communist rule,” the report highlights. “A government of this stature has no authority to intimidate those advocating for religious freedom and human rights. Actions must be taken for violating anyone’s fundamental right to freedom of religion or belief.”
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has launched a campaign against individuals of faith, including Christians, Falun Gong practitioners, Muslims, Tibetans, and Uyghurs. Many have been confined, tortured, forced into labor, and subjected to other cruel treatments, while some have lost their lives.
“China officially adheres to atheism,” the report states. “The country’s religious regulations and policies expressly mandate that state-controlled religious groups must be loyal to the CCP and serve its political objectives and interests.”
The report highlights that the CCP is carrying out “cultural genocide” in Tibet, leading to the deaths of Buddhist monks in imprisonment. In Xinjiang, the CCP is engaging in “physical genocide” against Uyghurs, detaining millions in camps and separating children from their families.
Falun Gong
The report reveals that organs are obtained from Falun Gong and Uyghurs, with some being taken while they are still alive.
Chinese hospitals offer exceptionally short waiting times for matching organs, making China a popular destination for transplant tourists. This is enabled by the regime’s organ bank, filled by forcibly and unethically harvesting organs from prisoners of conscience.
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The China Tribunal in London concluded in 2019 that the CCP has been forcibly extracting organs from prisoners of conscience “on a significant scale” for years, with Falun Gong practitioners being the primary source of organs.
Falun Gong, or Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice that advocates living by truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. By 1999, around 70-100 million people had adopted the practice, according to official estimates at the time.
Instead of viewing the practice’s popularity as beneficial, the CCP saw it as a challenge to its authority. Consequently, the regime launched a brutal campaign in July 1999 to eradicate the practice.
Since then, millions of practitioners have been unlawfully detained in prisons, labor camps, and other facilities, with hundreds of thousands subjected to torture while in custody, according to the Falun Dafa Information Center.
Citing data from the U.S.-based website Minghui.org, the USCIRF report noted 209 documented deaths of Falun Gong practitioners due to persecution in 2023. Additionally, there were 1,190 cases of Falun Gong practitioners receiving prison sentences for their faith last year.
To address the CCP’s organ harvesting atrocities, the House passed the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2023 (H.R. 1154) in March of the previous year. If enacted, the legislation would sanction individuals involved in forced organ harvesting and mandate annual government reporting on such activities happening in foreign countries.
Transnational Repression
The Chinese regime has extended its oppressive influence beyond its borders. As per the report, the CCP has been actively engaged in cross-border repression and other harmful activities abroad, including in the United States.
“The Chinese government’s malicious political influence campaigns, particularly its lobbying efforts in the U.S. Congress, represent a particularly deceitful form of political influence aimed at shaping federal policymaking to further the Chinese government’s interests and objectives,” the report states.
The USCIRF called on Congress to prohibit foreign lobbying agents representing China and continue imposing sanctions on CCP officials and entities responsible for severe violations of religious freedom.
“It is crucial to ban lobbying for the Chinese government, its state-affiliated commercial entities, and their interests while the government continues its egregious acts of religious persecution,” it emphasized.
