Washington, D.C. [US], October 29 (ANI): In a decisive move against China’s human rights abuses, US lawmakers have introduced a bicameral bill to sanction Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials involved in the persecution of religious minorities, The Epoch Times reported.
Senator Ted Budd (R-N.C.) and Representative Mark Alford (R-Mo.) jointly unveiled the Combatting the Persecution of Religious Groups in China Act on International Religious Freedom Day. The legislation seeks to hold Beijing accountable for decades of repression targeting Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, and followers of Falun Gong.
“China’s contempt for religious liberty is relentless. The US must confront this brutality with firm resolve,” Budd stated.
The bill’s introduction follows a recent raid by Chinese authorities on Zion Church, one of the nation’s largest unregistered Christian congregations, where about 30 pastors and worshippers were detained earlier this month. Senator Budd called the crackdown “further proof of the CCP’s coordinated persecution of religious believers.”
If enacted, the law would impose targeted sanctions on Chinese officials who engage in or oversee abuses such as torture, arbitrary detention, forced labor, and forced sterilization. It also reinforces the US State Department’s mandate to protect persecuted religious groups in China.
The CCP’s suppression of Falun Gong, which began in 1999, remains one of the most severe religious crackdowns in the world. Before the ban, an estimated 70 million to 100 million adherents practiced Falun Gong, and millions have since been imprisoned or tortured, according to The Epoch Times.
Representative Alford, who co-sponsored the bill, condemned the CCP’s “heinous violations of faith and humanity,” urging Washington to “stand firmly for religious freedom.”
The legislation further calls on Congress to maintain China’s designation as a “country of particular concern” and to demand the unconditional release of all detained religious and political prisoners, the report said. (ANI)
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