Country’s Religious Crackdown Expands

Release International has raised an alarm about the spread of Christian persecution from mainland China to Hong Kong. This announcement aligns with the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, a grim event on June 4, 1989, that saw a harsh suppression of pro-democracy protesters and heightened persecution of Christians.

Currently, Christians in China are experiencing the harshest persecution since the Cultural Revolution, according to Release International. This repression is now spilling over into Hong Kong, where new national security laws are severely restricting free speech and religious freedom. One such law, Article 23, could force Catholic priests in Hong Kong to disclose the contents of confessions, with non-compliance potentially resulting in up to 14 months in prison.

Bob Fu, a partner of Release International and a proponent of religious freedom in China, highlighted the grave implications of this law. He warned that compelling priests to violate the sanctity of confession would greatly escalate the persecution of Christians. Fu noted an exodus of Christians from Hong Kong, with many seeking refuge in the United Kingdom, and called on Britain to uphold religious freedom in its former colony.

Supporting these concerns, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has reported increasing restrictions on Christians in China, affecting believers in Hong Kong and beyond. Paul Robinson, CEO of Release International, observed that the crackdown on Christians in mainland China is now extending to Hong Kong. He urged for global awareness and action, emphasizing that religious freedom is essential to all other freedoms. Robinson described the current persecution in China as the most severe since Mao Tse Tung’s Cultural Revolution.

Robinson called on the international community to acknowledge the intensifying persecution and to respond to this growing threat against Christians, which extends beyond China’s borders.

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