China’s state-run bodies that oversee legally recognized religions are complicit in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violation of religious freedom by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), says the latest report from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
The USCIRF report titled State-Controlled Religion and Religious Freedom Violations in China released on Dec. 29 focuses on the role of seven state-run bodies in anti-religious repression as part of the state’s policy and system.
“The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its government exercise comprehensive and extensive control over religion in China through a complex web of state laws, regulations, and policies, which the Party and government agencies implement and enforce at all levels,” the report stated.
The Commission said that central to the CCP’s institutional control of religion are the seven state-controlled national religious organizations including the Islamic Association of China (IAC).
The state-controlled religious bodies must be politically loyal to the CCP and are legally required to assist or work with the CCP and government “in promulgating, implementing, and enforcing state laws, regulations, and policies — often at the expense of the religious communities they claim to represent,” the report said.
