Approximately 18 percent of China’s estimated 1.4 billion people are Buddhist, including Tibetan Buddhists; 5 percent are Christian; and 2 percent are Muslim. Other significant religious traditions include the Falun Gong, Daoism, and indigenous practices. Although the CCP has long repressed religious freedom, in recent years it has become increasingly hostile toward religion, resulting in campaigns to “sinicize” Islam, Tibetan Buddhism, and Christianity to rid the religions of alleged “foreign” influences. These policies require religious groups to support CCP rule and its overall objectives and interests, including by altering their teachings to conform to CCP ideology and adopting architectural and other changes to their sites and symbols. Both registered and unregistered religious groups and individuals who run afoul of the CCP face harassment, detention, arrest, and imprisonment. The 2018 Revised Regulations on Religious Affairs effectively ban all “unauthorized” religious teachings and expand the role of local authorities in controlling religious activities. Under Article 300 of the Chinese Criminal Code, simply belonging to certain religious movements, such as the Falun Gong or the Church of Almighty God, is punishable with three to seven years’ imprisonment—or up to life imprisonment for cases the authorities deem more serious. Religious Freedom under Hong Kong’s National Security Law In June, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee passed the new National Security Law for Hong Kong amid large-scale protests. The law contains broad and vague provisions that punish “secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces.” In December, Hong Kong authorities charged Jimmy Lai with “collusion with foreign forces,” making him the first high-profile figure to face charges under the law. Lai, a devout Catholic, has advocated for religious freedom in China and expressed concern over the future of religious freedom in Hong Kong. In December, USCIRF Commissioner Johnnie Moore adopted Lai as a Religious Prisoner of Conscience (RPOC) through USCIRF’s RPOC Project. The law could be invoked by authorities to suppress religious freedom in Hong Kong, especially as many political activists and protest participants, leaders, and groups have religious backgrounds and affiliations. Uyghur Forced Labor in Supply Chains of U.S. Companies In 2020, reports continued to highlight labor abuses in the supply chains of U.S. companies. Forced labor involving Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims took place in reeducation and prison camps, factories, and industrial parks in the Xinjiang region, and is often connected to government-sponsored “poverty alleviation” and “mutual pairing assistance” programs. In July, four U.S. government agencies issued a joint Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory, warning businesses with potential supply chain exposure to forced labor to consider the reputational, economic, and legal risks of involvement with entities that engage in human rights abuses in the region and to conduct due diligence accordingly. Some companies responded by severing ties with suppliers suspected of using Uyghur forced labor, while others claimed to have conducted third-party audits to ensure no forced labor is used in their supply chains. Key U.S. Policy In 2020, senior U.S. government officials continued to condemn deteriorating religious freedom conditions in China, including then Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo in his address at the 2020 Ministerial to Advance Freedom of Religion or Belief in November. Then Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Samuel D. Brownback raised particular concern over the Chinese government’s use of artificial intelligence and facial recognition to oppress Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims, many of whom are detained in internment camps for religious reasons. On December 2, the U.S. Department of State redesignated China as a CPC under IRFA and reimposed as the relevant presidential action existing restrictions on exports to China of crime control or detection instruments or equipment. In January 2021, after the reporting period, the State Department designated China’s treatment of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang as genocide and crimes against humanity. In May and July, the U.S. Department of Commerce added in total 19 Chinese companies and one government entity to the Entity List due to concerns about forced labor and other human rights violations in Xinjiang. In July, the U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions against Chinese government entities and senior Chinese officials, including Chen Quanguo, Communist Party Secretary for Xinjiang; the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau; and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), which has directly participated in the surveillance, mass detention, and forced labor of Uyghurs. In May, Congress passed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act by an overwhelming, bipartisan vote, which then President Donald J. Trump signed into law in June. This law authorizes the U.S. government to impose sanctions on Chinese officials responsible for the persecution of Uyghur and other Muslims. In December, as part of an omnibus pandemic relief and government funding package, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate passed, and the President signed, the Tibetan Policy and Support Act (H.R.4331), which promotes the human rights of the Tibetan people, including the right to select and venerate their own religious leaders. USCIRF had recommended the enactment of both the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act and the Tibetan Policy and Support Act. In September, the House of Representatives passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (H.R.6210), which would bar imports of textiles, cotton, and other goods produced using forced labor from Xinjiang. In October, six U.S. senators introduced a bipartisan resolution to designate human rights abuses perpetrated by the Chinese government against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang as genocide. KEY USCIRF RESOURCES & ACTIVITIES • • • • Hearing: Technological Surveillance of Religion in China Factsheet: The 2019 Regulation for Religious Groups in China Op-Ed: Being Muslim Means You’re Never Safe from China (in The Hill) Op-Ed: China's war on religion – What US must do to support freedom (in Fox News) U S C I R F – R E C O M M E N D E D F O R C O U N T R I E S O F PA R T I C U L A R C O N C E R N ( C P C ) 17 CHINA Background