Male, March 3: The Chinese government's treatment of religious and spiritual communities has once again come under scrutiny in the US Congress, following remarks by a former senior American official who condemned the Chinese Communist Party's policies as a "war on belief systems," according to a report released on Tuesday.
Addressing US lawmakers recently, Sam Brownback, former US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, accused the Chinese Communist Party of waging a worldwide persecution campaign targeting religious believers, as highlighted by a report in the Maldivian media outlet, Etruth MV.
During a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Brownback's remarks portrayed Beijing's actions not as isolated human rights abuses, but as "a coordinated campaign to suppress belief systems perceived as threats to state authority."
"The testimony, combined with recent legislative moves and earlier international findings, has renewed focus on allegations that China is using surveillance, detention, and coercive medical practices to dismantle independent faith communities at home while projecting pressure abroad," the report mentioned.
Brownback said that "the campaign targets a wide spectrum of faiths, including Christians, Buddhists, Uyghur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, and practitioners of Falun Gong."
According to the report, Brownback alleged that Beijing allocates vast financial and institutional resources aimed at suppressing religion.
He told lawmakers that the Chinese government spends billions of dollars each year to control or dismantle independent belief systems, arguing that "the most severe repression is reserved for Falun Gong practitioners."
"Brownback characterized believers inside China as individuals operating 'behind enemy lines', describing them as uniquely positioned to challenge state control because their convictions allow them to overcome fear. His testimony emphasised that faith-based resistance, rather than political ideology, is viewed by the Chinese state as a destabilising force," the report said.
The report stressed that a central focus of Brownback's testimony was the use of advanced surveillance technology to enforce religious repression.
He said that China's extensive monitoring apparatus enables authorities to identify and neutralize individuals considered capable of mobilising others through faith.
The Capitol Hill hearing, the report said, "placed China's domestic religious policies within a broader international context."
Brownback characterized the repression as global, asserting that pressure extends beyond China's borders through coercion of diaspora communities and use of diplomatic influence.
"As lawmakers consider further action, the allegations outlined during the hearing add to an expanding body of claims that frame religious persecution as central, rather than incidental, to China's political system. The description of a 'war on belief systems' may be rhetorical, but the policies and practices discussed — surveillance, detention, alleged forced organ harvesting, and transnational pressure — reflect a sustained effort to control belief," the report noted.
"For US lawmakers, the issue now sits at the intersection of human rights, foreign policy, and legislative oversight, with implications that extend far beyond China's borders," it added.
