Religious Freedom Violations Particularly Severe in China, US Report Says

WASHINGTON—China’s communist regime has continued to engage in “particularly severe violations of religious freedom” in 2025, targeting people in China and abroad, a U.S. religious freedom watchdog said in its annual report released on March 5.Religious figures and followers who refuse to submit to the Chinese regime’s “intrusive system of control” are subjected to harassment, fines, detention, political reeducation, forced labor, imprisonment, enforced disappearance, torture, and other abuse, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent federal commission, states in the report.“The Chinese Communist Party deepened its crackdown on all religious activities that dared to operate outside of its tight-fisted control,” Asif Mahmood, vice chair of the commission, said at the rollout event for the report.Maureen Ferguson, a USCIRF commissioner, said the suppression in China is “across-the-board” and “systematic.”“The situation in China is particularly egregious because they are persecuting every faith community, from the Uyghur Muslims to Falun Gong to the Tibetan movement to the underground Catholic Church to the Christian house churches,” Ferguson told The Epoch Times.USCIRF also drew attention to Beijing’s “massive crackdown” on Protestant Christian house churches, citing the jailing of dozens of religious leaders such as the Zion Church founder Ezra Jin.The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is engaging in transnational repression outside of China, the report states, using “high-tech and emerging technologies to silence religious and ethnic minorities.”One example in the report was the arrest of a Chinese national in Australia in August last year, for allegedly spying on a Canberra-based Buddhist group on behalf of the CCP’s Public Security Bureau.Last February, Thailand, under Chinese pressure, deported dozens of Uyghur Muslims to China despite international leaders speaking out against it.In the United States, former New York City Police Sgt. Michael McMahon was sentenced to 18 months in prison in April last year for acting as an illegal agent of Beijing. He was one of three men convicted in 2023 of stalking a former Chinese official and his family in New Jersey as part of the CCP’s expatriation campaign called “Operation Fox Hunt.”The USCIRF report urges the Department of Justice to “prioritize investigating and prosecuting” the Chinese regime’s transnational repression against religious minorities and activists.It also called for Congress to pass legislation to “assist those fleeing religious persecution in China.”Asif Mahmood, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom commissioner, speaks during a rally calling for the end of the Chinese Communist Party’s 25 years of ongoing persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China at the National Mall in Washington on July 11, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch TimesA Call for Greater AttentionRep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, attended the report’s rollout event, saying that “There is nothing more important to American values than freedom of religion.”The USCIRF report comes just weeks before President Donald Trump’s trip to China from March 31 to April 2, during which he is scheduled to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping.Speaking to The Epoch Times, Sherman said that U.S. engagement abroad should reflect American values.“I would want a president who recognizes that the values of the country need to be expressed in our foreign policy,” Sherman said.“There are so many religious groups in China, from the Catholic Church to Falun Gong to so many others, that are being oppressed by that government.“I hope very much that Trump brings that to the world’s attention.”Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) speaks during a hearing with top bank regulators in Washington on Nov. 15, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch TimesThe USCIRF report notes that several elderly people died during their imprisonment in 2025, and an 87-year-old began serving a 3.5-year sentence in August last year.Minghui.org, a U.S.-based website that tracks the persecution of Falun Gong in China, identified the 87-year-old as Zhao Yungu, a retired factory worker from the northern Chinese capital city of Harbin. Zhao’s wife, Liu Shumei, also a Falun Gong practitioner, died at the age of 77 in May 2019 as a result of persecution, according to the website.They are not the only elders targeted for their faith. According to Minghui, Meng Qingjie, 72, was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2025 over practicing Falun Gong. Prior to her latest sentencing, she had been in jail for nine years.Additionally, Minghui reported on the torture of 90-year-old Liu Xueshen, also a Falun Gong practitioner, including being forced to sit on a small stool for extended periods and facing restricted access to food and restroom facilities.The CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong is “well documented,” Sherman said.Ferguson at the event highlighted the “unjust detention” of 78-year-old Jimmy Lai, a Catholic and critic of Beijing who was sentenced to 20 years in prison last month in a Hong Kong national security case. She said that sentencing an elderly person like Zhao and Lai is, in effect, a life sentence.“It’s a sentence to die in prison,” Ferguson told The Epoch Times. “It just shows how the CCP is just determined to exert complete control over religion and severely repress anyone who tries to speak out.”Maureen Ferguson speaks at an event held by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in Washington on March 4, 2026. Screenshot via The Epoch TimesFalun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. The CCP saw its popularity as a threat to its control and launched a campaign against the practice in 1999.The ongoing persecution has resulted in millions of practitioners being detained or tortured, with thousands dying of abuse while in custody, according to the Falun Dafa Information Center.Ferguson said the International Religious Freedom Act requires the United States to prioritize religious freedom in its foreign policy—a principle she hopes will shape discussions during Trump’s trip.“We hope the President and his team, in side meetings, will raise the cases of these prisoners of conscience,” she said.Transnational RepressionThe Chinese regime’s campaign against Falun Gong has extended beyond its borders.Since January, six world leaders have been targeted by bomb and death threats in a CCP-linked campaign aimed at stopping Shen Yun Performing Arts shows in their countries.Shen Yun, headquartered in New York, was founded by practitioners of Falun Gong. Its performances showcase classical Chinese dance and music under the slogan “China Before Communism,” and highlight the ongoing human rights abuses in China.Stephen Schneck, a USCIRF commissioner, told The Epoch Times that the commission is “watching closely” Beijing’s transnational repression against Falun Gong and Shen Yun.“They’re tracking Falun Gong practitioners in countries around the world, and it’s very concerning,” Schneck said, adding that the threats of violence are “tremendously serious” and “illegal.​”“The entire world is watching China on issues like this,” he said. “Ahead of President Trump’s visit to China, we’re going to very strongly encourage our government to stand up and to speak out for religious freedom around the world, and, among other things, to address this problem of transnational repression.”Stephen Schneck, former Chair U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 4, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch TimesAuthorities in Switzerland, Turkey, and Australia have uncovered alleged Chinese spying targeting Uyghur, Tibetan, and Buddhist communities, according to the USCIRF report.On a trip to Finland in 2025, former Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying, who is now vice chairman of China’s top political advisory body, threatened a group of local Falun Gong practitioners at a tourist site, saying that he could investigate them once he had their names.The USCIRF report called on the United States to coordinate with international partners to impose sanctions on Chinese agencies, entities, and officials responsible for religious freedom violations.“We already have many sanctions in place. In regards to China, I would encourage the extension of those sanctions in regards to religious freedom as broadly as the United States government can do,” Schneck said.Sherry Dong contributed to this report.