Policy / Combatting Persecution of Religious Minorities by the Chinese Communist Party

Combatting Persecution of Religious Minorities by the Chinese Communist Party

Southern Baptists affirm that every life is worthy of dignity and protection, including the lives of vulnerable people groups. In the 2019 resolution “On Biblical Justice,” Southern Baptists resolved to “address injustices through gospel proclamation, by advocating for people who are oppressed and face wrongs against them. Additionally, in the 2018 resolution “On Reaffirming The Full Dignity Of Every Human Being,” Southern Baptists resolved that “we affirm the full dignity of every human being of whatever political or legal status or party and denounce rhetoric that diminishes the humanity of anyone.”

The U.S. government has made an official determination that the Chinese Communist Party is committing genocide against the Uyghur people. Since April 2017, China has systematically detained more than 1 million Uyghur Muslims and placed them into “re-education camps.” In these internment camps, Uyghurs are prevented from engaging in their religious practices and forcibly “re-educated” to the Communist Party’s ideological standard. China has constructed upward of 1,000 of these camps to detain 1-3 million Uyghur people; at these camps, physical and psychological abuse is commonplace including rape, torture, malnourishment, and forced organ harvesting. Despite this reality, the U.S. has done little to prioritize this issue in negotiations with China.

At the 2021 annual meeting, Southern Baptists became the first denomination to rightly call what is happening to the Uyghur people a genocide. Specifically, this resolution called for advocacy seeking to bring an end to this genocide, prioritize of the Uyghur people to the U.S. under refugee status, and continue in prayer for the Uyghur people and aid workers and missionaries.

In addition, China has begun cracking down on practicing Christians, as evidenced by the capture of Pastor Jin of Zion Church and other leaders. China has accused the leaders of illegally disseminating religious material online, a strong indictment of religious freedom conditions in China. They could face up to three years in prison. Zion Church is one of many underground “house churches” in China.

The ERLC abhors this treatment of religious minorities and will continue to urge the Trump administration to prioritize religious freedom and human rights as a cornerstone of negotiations with China. The ERLC will also support legislation that increases the prioritization of this issue in U.S. foreign policy. The U.S. must continue to counter China morally and stand firm in fighting for religious freedom as a bedrock of our foreign policy strategy.