Leaders in China are unhappy about this week’s International Religious Freedom Report by the U.S., which has continued to criticize China for not allowing its people to worship and practice their own religion.

Chinese Catholics worship at the government-sanctioned North Cathedral of the National Patriotic Church in Beijing July 1, 2007. Pope Benedict called on China to lift restrictions on religious freedom that “suffocate” the Church and sow divisions among Catholics, in his most significant address on China to date.

The U.S. State Department released the second half of the 13th Annual International Religious Freedom Report Tuesday. It includes eight countries guilty of particularly severe violations of religious freedom and has tagged them “Countries of Particular Concern.”

Nations highlighted in the annual report are subject to further actions by the United States, including economic sanctions. And the information is taken into account by U.S. foreign policy.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton commented on the report this week, saying the violations of religious freedom are getting worse. She also said that shining a spotlight on violations is one of the State Department’s goals.

After hearing the report, Jiang Yu, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, made some terse remarks at a regular press briefing Wednesday, saying ,“China firmly opposes the United States intervening in our domestic affairs by issuing such a report.”
Yu told the assembled media, “China is firmly opposed to the U.S. attacking its religious rights situation by issuing reports of this nature year after year and interfering with China’s internal affairs.” He adeed, “Chinese people across all ethnic groups enjoy the full freedom to practice religious beliefs in accordance with the law. We are urging the United States to exert greater efforts toward the development of bilateral relations.”

Clinton said in China, Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims, and Christians all suffer from government attempts to restrict their religious practice.

She referred to a recent incident in Eritrea, where a 43-year-old evangelical Christian died in prison. He was reportedly tortured for 18 months, and denied treatment for malaria, because he refused to renounce his faith.

To read the report visit http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2011/09/172254.htm [Editor’s note: the original URL (link) referenced is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.]

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