CHINA: Special bimonthly FORB digest (01-15.07.21)

General

14.07.21 – Religious freedom is dying in China

The government makes churches and mosques glorify the Communist Party above all else.

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13.07.21 – China’s latest ban of Christian content on social media

In a recent crackdown on online Christian content, the Chinese government banned the WeChat accounts belonging to many registered churches.

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06.07.21 – Chinese Communist Party: “100 Years of Promoting Atheism”

A forum in Nanjing insisted that atheism is “a mandatory feature of a Socialist country,” and “sinicization” is just a tool to promote it.

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05.07.21 – When Christian self-media gradually disappears in China

Currently, everyone will have such consensus that there is less and less Christian information on the Internet in China. It is not known since when WeChat official accounts related to Christianity were permanently shut down.

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Uyghur Muslims

15.07.21 – More MPs call for UK government to take action on human rights crisis in Xinjiang

British MPs have increased calls on the UK government to pressure the Chinese government to end human rights violations in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

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09.07.21 – Uyghurs remember the Urumqi Massacre of 2009

Peace turned to fury on the streets of Urumqi twelve years ago after protests over the killing of Uyghur factory workers in inner China fell on deaf ears. Later that evening merciless summary retaliatory justice was meted out by Chinese troops that mowed down hundreds of Uyghur civilians, as witnessed by Risalat, a Uyghur eyewitness, their bodies piled onto trucks and disappeared.

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08.07.21 – Foreign Affairs Committee publish report: Never again: The UK’s responsibility to act on atrocities in Xinjiang and beyond

The report provides solutions, setting out the response required of the UK Government to stop the atrocities that the Chinese government is committing against the Uyghurs and other ethnic groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The Committee recommends a range of measures that, together, will pressure the Chinese government to end its persecution of Uyghurs.

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07.07.21 – Uyghur genocide denier condemned for appeasement with China

“As far as we know, no one has been killed,” claims a prominent UK politician whose naysaying views on Uyghur persecution have shocked Uyghur exiles.

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07.07.21 – UHRP praises parliamentary report, urges U.K. government to take up recommendations

The Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) is encouraged by the strong recommendations made by the U.K. Foreign Affairs Committee following months of research and testimony, and calls on the government to quickly implement the recommendations on genocide, forced labour, and the protection of Uyghurs abroad.

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Tibetan Buddhists

13.07.21 – Two Tibetans arrested for celebrating Dalai Lama’s birthday

Chinese officials in a Tibetan-populated region of Sichuan have arrested two Tibetans for celebrating the 86th birthday this month of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, Tibetan sources say.

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08.07.21 – Four Tibetan monks handed harsh prison terms after police raid: report

Chinese authorities in Tibet last year sentenced four Tibetan monks to long prison terms following a violent raid by police on their monastery in Tingri county, a New York-based rights group said in a report released this week.

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06.07.21 – Long live his Holiness the 14th Dalaï Lama as we celebrate his 86th birthday

Today, on 6 July 2021, the esteemed spiritual leader of Tibetans from all over the world – the Dalai Lama – turns 86. Free Tibet wishes him a very happy birthday and a long life!

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02.07.21 – Tibetan Monk in Sichuan: 4 ½ years in jail for chatting with his sister

Rinchen Zhuzhen was sentenced to for “inciting separatism” in WeChat conversations.

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Protestants

14.07.21 – Christian Churches ordered to preach Xi Jinping’s July 1 speech

Pastors are expected to hail the CCP and the President, and conclude with “Long live the great, glorious and correct Chinese Communist Party!”

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13.07.21 – Bob Fu testifies at the Lantos Human Rights Commission’s “State of Religious Freedom Around the Globe”

The Lantos Human Rights Commission’s “State of Religious Freedom Around the Globe” July 13 conference coincides with the nongovernmental International Religious Freedom Summit July 13-15. During the seminar, a panel of experts, including Bob Fu, PhD., president of ChinaAid, Sam Brownback, ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom during President Donald Trump‘s administration, and Congressman French Hill (Republican) examine the status of religious freedom throughout the world.

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Link to Bob Fu’s speech transcript

13.07.21 – CCP officials release Chen Wensheng, street preacher held under designated residential surveillance for 20 days

After Zhejiang Province State security officers arrested Chen Wensheng, a Christian from Hengyang City, Hunan Province, Brother Chen on June 19 and transported him back to Hengyang, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities held Brother Chen under designated residential surveillance at West Lake Resort for 20 days.

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12.07.21 – Yunyan District Yanzhong police officers detain three Guiyang Renai Reformed Church females

During the morning of July 8, Yunyan District’s Yanzhong police officers phoned three female Christians from Guiyang Renai Reformed Church and advised them to come to their station for interrogation. Although officials did not reveal any reasons for their summons, nevertheless, they detained the three Christians for more than nine hours.

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09.07.21 – Police criminally detain Zhao Weikai with “illegal holding of materials promoting terrorism and extremism”

At 8 am on July 7, police again summoned Zhao Weikai, a 35-year-old Christian from Taiyuan Xuncheng Reformed Church. Later, although Brother Zhao’s family had not received a formal detention notice, they heard that Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials had criminally detained him with the charge of “illegal holding of materials promoting terrorism and extremism.”

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Falun Gong

16.07.21 – Reported in first half of 2021: 9,470 Falun Gong practitioners arrested or harassed for their faith

The first half of 2021 recorded 3,291 Falun Gong practitioners being arrested and 6,179 harassed for their faith, an ancient spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since 1999.

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16.07.21 – Daughter and blind mother both convicted for their faith

A Shenyang City, Liaoning Province resident was imprisoned on July 1, 2021, to serve a two-year term for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

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Further reading about FORB in China on HRWF website