Secretary of State Anthony Blinken released the State Department’s much-anticipated annual Report on International Religious Freedom last week.
The 2020 report detailed the Chinese government’s systematic persecution of an estimated 200 million religious believers, including Christians, Muslims and Buddhists.
Blinken told reporters – “Religious freedom, like every human right, is universal. All people, everywhere, are entitled to it no matter where they live, what they believe, or what they don’t believe. Religious freedom is co-equal with other human rights because human rights are indivisible. Religious freedom is not more or less important than the freedom to speak and assemble, to participate in the political life of one’s country, to live free from torture or slavery, or any other human right. Indeed, they’re all interdependent.”
The State Department announced that the Chinese government continues to commit genocide and inhumane acts against Muslim Uyghurs, Christians and other religious and ethnic minorities in western China.
Daniel Nadel, the State Department official in charge of religious freedom, said that evidence of oppression involves testimonies from survivors of torture and Chinese government records.