A Chinese pastor who led greater than 60 members of his Presbyterian congregation in southwestern China to asylum within the United States advised members of Congress Wednesday “there is no religious freedom” within the communist superpower.
At a roundtable organized by the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, the Rev. Pan Yongguang stated, “There is a real price to pay for being a true Christian in China, and as a pastor, I am especially aware of this. Churches are often forced to stop [holding] services, they are relocated, banned and closed. And even their church offerings are not allowed to be collected.”
Mr. Youngguang stated CCP officers seen his ministerial coaching and ordination by the Reformed Presbyterian Church within the United States of America as “colluding with anti-Chinese forces overseas,” and subjected him to subsequent persecution.
The pastor was joined by a number of different audio system, together with a Uyghur Muslim Imam, a Tibetan Buddhist and several other American spiritual leaders who addressed problems with Chinese spiritual freedom. China has managed spiritual affairs in Tibet for many years, and in recent times started a persecution marketing campaign in opposition to Muslims within the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwest China.
Mr. Youngguang stated he and his church members — known as the “Mayflower” neighborhood after the spiritual refugees who got here to Massachusetts in 1620 — have been “threatened and intimidated to varying degrees” after they fled China for South Korea, after which journeyed to Thailand, earlier than being granted asylum within the U.S. in April.
Bhuchung Ok. Tsering, a Tibetan exile and Buddhist who now works for the International Campaign for Tibet, stated the Chinese authorities imprisoned a younger man acknowledged because the resurrection of the Panchen Llama, a non secular chief.
“We haven’t heard about him since then,” Mr. Tersing stated. In his place, “the Chinese authorities appointed their own candidate who now is being appointed to serve the Chinese political agenda.”
The Tibetan advocate stated Congress ought to go a decision supporting the best of Tibetan Buddhists to find out their very own spiritual management.
A Uyighur Muslim refugee, recognized solely as “Imam Hajim,” advised the dialogue group that he had been allowed to check his Islamic faith in Saudi Arabia for a six-year interval, however was unable to return after a change in Chinese coverage that focused his co-religionists and positioned them in what he known as “concentration camps.”
“I’m very different from all of you,” the Imam stated. “You have your family, you can communicate with your family members, your loved ones, but I cannot do it. I have not been able to communicate with my parents, my wife, or with my loved ones back home since 2017.”
Rep. Mike Gallagher, the Wisconsin Republican who chairs the choose committee, expressed solidarity with these struggling spiritual persecution, and stated, “Even under intense persecution, faith persists throughout China, and the number of the faithful grows.”
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