National Security Experts Urge U.S. President to Address Religious Persecution in China Summit

Dozens of national security experts have submitted a letter urging the U.S. president to address religious persecution in China during a planned summit in Beijing next month. The letter, drafted by the Vandenberg Coalition and sent on Wednesday to the U.S. president and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, encouraged confronting the significant religious persecution perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party under paramount leader Xi Jinping.

The experts urged making clear that the United States expects China to end religious persecution against people of all faiths. They recommended issuing sanctions and visa bans targeting specific Chinese officials responsible for such persecution. Among the signers are former officials from the previous administration, including former Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie and former deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger.

is an atheistic state with limited protections for organized religion. Faith groups must register with the government and accept ideological directives from Beijing, or risk arrest and imprisonment. The Chinese Communist Party has issued directives requiring the rebirth of living Buddhas to comply with Chinese laws and regulations.

In early 2021, the previous U.S. administration declared that the Chinese government was committing genocide against Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang, involving torture, imprisonment, forced labor, and forced sterilization.

The letter praised the previous determination on Uyghurs and pushed for further action, including demanding the release of persecuted pastor Ezra Jin Mingri from prison and allowing him to leave China. Jin founded Beijing Zion Church in 2007, which operated independently for years before a crackdown last year.

He was detained and faces charges of illegal dissemination of religious content via the internet.

“Securing Pastor Jin’s release in time for the birth of his grandchild would be an impressive win that aligns with your administration’s laudable emphasis on protecting Christians from persecution.”

Jin's daughter, Grace Jin Drexel, lives in the United States and is expecting a child later this year.

The summit with Xi Jinping is scheduled for May 14-15, postponed from late March due to conflict in Iran. Human rights advocates have also requested pressing for the release of Hong Kong democracy activist Jimmy Lai, a 78-year-old Catholic newspaper publisher sentenced to 20 years in prison for opposing Chinese Communist Party governance in the region.

The U.S. president stated late last year that a request for Lai's release had been made in conversations with Xi, adding that developments would need to be observed.