Washington, D.C. — The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its annual report on the religious freedom around the world in 2024. It states, "in 2024, religious freedom conditions in China remained among the worst in the world. Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping continued to lead efforts to update and enforce China’s “sinicization of religion” policy, which requires the complete loyalty and subordination of recognized religious groups to the CCP, its political ideology, and its policy agenda."
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its 2025 annual report on March 25, 2025, documenting religious freedom conditions in 2024 around the world and lists China as a "country of particular concern" under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998. The report also recommends the White House, Congress, and State Department to advance freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) abroad.
USCIRF Chair Stephen Schneck said, “As repressive governments and violent entities attack and drastically erode freedom of religion or belief, USCIRF’s independent reporting and bipartisan recommendations have never been more critical to U.S. foreign policy. The U.S. government must continue to stand firm against these threats against the universal right of religious freedom.”
USCIRF Vice Chair Meir Soloveichik said, “Despite the escalating threats to freedom of religion or belief, there is real opportunity to stave off any retreat of this fundamental freedom and, if pursued with energy and determination, to advance it. Religious freedom is a clear priority of the United States. USCIRF’s 2025 Annual Report points the way forward for policy that advances religious freedom in a fast-changing world.”
The report states, "China continued to use high-tech surveillance outside places of worship and other means to repress religious freedom throughout the country. It also weaponized transnational repression and disinformation by using emerging technologies to quash voices critical of the country’s religious freedom and related human rights violations. Chinese authorities threatened Uyghur and Tibetan diaspora communities with surveillance, blackmail, and threats against their families living in China to force them into silence. Authorities further promoted tourism to Xinjiang to whitewash its genocidal violations there and dismiss international criticism."
"Officials persisted in restricting religious activities of Tibetan Buddhists. Authorities reportedly banned admission of new monks at a monastery in Chamdo prefecture, prohibited religious activities during Saga Dawa in Lhasa, and forced residents to remove religious symbols displayed outside their homes in Sichuan Province. Authorities closed Tibetan monastery schools and enrolled students in state-run boarding schools to forcibly assimilate them, while police arrested and imprisoned Tibetan Buddhists for public and private mentions of the Dalai Lama. Authorities indicated that they intend to interfere in the Dalai Lama’s succession process and punish Tibetans who oppose," the report added.
USCIRF recommends to USA government:
- Redesignate China as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA);
- Coordinate with international partners to sanction Chinese officials and entities responsible for severe religious freedom violations, including those engaging in transnational repression against religious minorities on behalf of the Chinese government as well as CCP officials who interfere in the Dalai Lama’s plan of succession; and
- Work with like-minded partners to address China’s use of technology to commit religious freedom violations by establishing binding multilateral export controls to counter China’s economic coercion, reduce economic and trade dependence on China, and diversify supply chains, including rules governing the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies such as genetic sequencing and collection.
USCIRF recommends to the U.S. Congress: - It should ban lobbying in the United States by agents representing the Chinese government and its state-affiliated commercial entities that undermine religious freedom and related human rights; and aise China’s religious freedom conditions through delegation visits, meetings, and hearings, including through the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, and Select Committee on the CCP.
