“The United States must promote religious freedom around the world and hold China’s authoritarian regime responsible.”
By Catholics for Catholics
In an effort to help put an end to the persecution of Christians in China, Republicans introduced a bill that would sanction Chinese companies and entities linked to the harassment of those faithful in that country.
According to The Daily Wire, the “Combating the Persecution of Religious Groups in China Act” seeks to “strengthen America’s response to combat the CCP’s ongoing acts of religious persecution targeting Christians and other religious minorities,” a copy of the bill reviewed by The Daily Wire reads. If passed, the United States will sanction any official of the People’s Republic of China who is responsible for or has directly carried out “abuses of religious freedom.”
According to the Act, those abuses include “Arbitrary detention, forced sterilization, torture, forced labor, and serious restrictions on freedom of religion or belief, expression, and movement.”
It was Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) who introduced the bill on October 27, during International Religious Freedom Day. In the House, it was Congressman Mark Alford (R-MO) who introduced the bill.
Now more than ever, our government must play a key role in monitoring & addressing China’s persecution of Christians and other religious minorities. The time to end China’s calculated assault on religious freedom is now.@SenTedBuddNC's op-ed in @thehill https://t.co/x4zwMyKANV pic.twitter.com/mvHD0o5FZO
— Senator Ted Budd (@SenTedBuddNC) October 27, 2025
Co-sponsors of the bill in the Senate include Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn (TN), Ashley Moody (FL), Thom Tillis (NC), and Todd Young (IN), while co-sponsors in the House include Republican Reps. Greg Steube (FL), Dan Crenshaw (TX), and Michael McCaul (TX).
The bill would also strengthen State Department efforts to oppose the ongoing persecution of Catholics, Protestant Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners, and other religious minorities.
The legislation comes just weeks after the Chinese Communist Party arrested more than 30 pastors and staff from Zion Church, a Christian house church in China. Zion Church was shut down in 2018 but re-emerged in multiple locations, NPR reported. In response, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement condemning the detentions and calling for the immediate release of the church members.
Rubio said the occurrence shows how the CCP “exercises hostility towards Christians who reject Party interference in their faith and choose to worship at unregistered house churches.”
In a statement, Budd said China’s “disdain for religious freedom is not new,” noting it is an “ongoing and brutal pattern of abuse that must be met with steadfast American strength.”
The CCP jails Christians, burns churches, and silences faith.
— Rep. Mark Alford (@RepMarkAlford) October 27, 2025
America will not stay silent.
This is why we are introducing the Combatting the Persecution of Religious Groups in China Act with @SenTedBuddNC — to sanction every CCP official behind these abuses. pic.twitter.com/wg8DdPKUUs
“As the leader of the free world, the United States must promote religious freedom around the world and hold China’s authoritarian regime responsible for decades of persecution targeting Christians and other religious minorities. The CCP’s restrictions on freedom of religion and cruelty toward religious minorities in China must come to an end,” Budd said.
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