(Minghui.org) During a recent online hearing of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on October 16, 2025, government officials including U.S. Congressional members discussed the human rights violations by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) against Falun Gong and other faith systems. They also provided recommendations on how to address this issue.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) held an online hearing on October 16, 2025.

USCIRF Chair Vicky Hartzler

Vicky Hartzler, Chair of USCIRF and former U.S. Representative, said the CCP’s treatment of religious groups blatantly contradicts international human rights standards. “No government has the right to dictate the beliefs of its citizens. No government has the right to choose which religious leaders are legitimate. No government has the right to impose its political interests onto its citizens’ conscience and faith,” she explained.

“And no government has the right to imprison religious leaders for leading their religious communities,” she continued.

Suppression of Falun Gong

USCIRF Vice Chair Asif Mahmood

“In Xinjiang, Chinese authorities have committed genocide and crimes against humanity by placing more than a million predominately Muslim Uyghurs and other Turkic ethnic groups in so-called political ‘reeducation’ camps. There, officials have forced them to renounce their religious beliefs and ethnic identities and subjected them to other gross human rights abuses,” said Vice Chair Asif Mahmood.

“China targets house church Protestants and underground Catholics for refusing to join the state-controlled religious organizations. Authorities have instructed clergy to preach CCP ideology, ordered the removal of crosses from churches, and required the display of CCP slogans at the entrances of churches,” he continued.

“These are just violations for recognized religious groups. The government has ruthlessly persecuted unrecognized religious groups like Falun Gong... in an effort to eradicate their movements as opposed to co-opting them for political purposes,” Mahmood added.

Occurring Every Day

Senator Ted Budd

Ted Budd, U.S. Senator from North Carolina, believes the American leadership needs to take a strong stance on this. “[The CCP] has no interest in protecting freedom of religion … it continues to restrict religious practice, destroy churches, and imprison religious minorities,” he explained.

“Every day, they torture and target Uyghurs, Thibetans, Catholics, Protestants, and Falun Gong practitioners. The spirit of religious persecution is evidence of the CCP’s disregard for human life and natural law,” he said.

“Until China changes course, it should be the policy of the United States to hold them accountable for their severe violations of religious freedom,” Budd continued, adding this hearing would help unite Americans to safeguard religious freedom and protect those who seek help.

Forced Organ Harvesting

Representative John Moolenaar

John Moolenaar, U.S. Representative and chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, said “The CCP doesn’t just threaten American interests. It threatens the very idea that human beings are born free, the truth exists beyond the reach of the state, and that no government can claim ownership of the soul.

“Under Xi Jinping, the CCP has declared war on faith itself. Across China today, the party is carrying out the most systematic campaign of religious persecution since the Cultural Revolution,” he continued, adding that Falun Gong practitioners have been suffering from detention, torture, and forced organ harvesting.

Because the CCP extended the repression overseas affecting our institutions, friends, and families, we cannot ignore this, Moolenaar said.

A Long-lasting Crime

Former Assistant Secretary Robert Destro

Robert Destro, Professor of Law and former Assistant Secretary of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, mentioned the recent hot mic incident between the CCP Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

During the conversation, Xi said the CCP leaders could extend their lives to 150 years through organ transplants. For people from the Middle East, the CCP might provide “halal organs” in which Uyghurs became targets. In fact, Falun Gong practitioners have become the target of organ harvesting for many years, explained Destro.

Transnational Repression

Annie Wilcox Boyajian, President of Freedom House

Annie Wilcox Boyajian, President and Mark Palmer Distinguished Fellow of Freedom House, said the CCP operates the most advanced and sophisticated religious suppression system in the world, to target Buddhists, Muslims, Falun Gong practitioners, Christians, and others. These were documented by the global database maintained by Freedom House.

“The U.S. government should work to expose transnational oppression by coordinating with allies to monitor, document, and counter China’s unlawful deportations, harassment of diaspora communities, and abuse of Interpol red notices, and take special care to not facilitate the perpetration of transnational repression,” Boyajian said.

She offered a number of other recommendations to the committee, including “working to enforce accountability” by imposing targeted sanctions on officials and entities responsible for a severe religious persecution. Furthermore, Boyajian also suggested that policymakers “strengthen asylum protections and humanitarian pathways” for religious persecution victims.