Trump Silent On China Burning Bibles, Closing Churches, Trying To Convert Christians

As the crackdown on religious congregations in Beijing and other Chinese provinces intensifies, the country’s government is burning bibles, closing churches and forcing Christian to renounce their faith, according to a latest report by the Associated Press.

“The international community should be alarmed and outraged for this blatant violation of freedom of religion and belief,” Bob Fu, president of legal aid organization China Aid, told the AP.

Fu also provided video evidence of piles of bibles that had been set on fire as well as forms handed out to people for the renunciation of their Christian faith.

The report further said the government’s active resolve to drive people from Christianity and other faiths to the atheist ideology of the Communist Party was part of its efforts to “Sinicize” religion.

Though a government official disputed the claims, reiterating that the Chinese authorities have great respect for religious freedom, a pastor, who wished to remain anonymous, said that immediately after his church had opened its doors in the morning, several people entered and began removing religious items.

“The Chinese government is committing human rights abuses in Xinjiang on a scale unseen in the country in decades,” said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch. “The campaign of repression in Xinjiang is key test of whether the United Nations and concerned governments will sanction an increasingly powerful China to end this abuse.”

Although Trump has been quick to chastise China over trade and unfair tax impositions, he is yet to speak up against the reported violation of religious rights going on in the country.

The president has, in the past, adopted a tough rhetoric on countries where Christians were targeted for their religious faith. One such country was Pakistan:

However, not everyone has stayed mum on the issue. On Sunday, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) rebuked the Chinese government for trying to suppress religious freedom.

"Imagine what life would be like for our children if they inherit a world in which the most powerful country is one that burns bibles, ransacks Christian churches & rounds up & detains Muslims in internment camps," Rubio tweeted. "Because that is what #China is doing."

This is reportedly the worst crackdown on religious freedom under Chinese President Xi Jinping since 1982, when religious freedom was included in the country’s constitution. Even then, the country’s law dictated that religious worship can only be conducted in groups registered with the authorities, which left millions of citizens with faiths that fall under government restrictions.

In addition to violating the religious freedom of Christians, Muslim minority groups like Uyghurs, of Turkish origin, who live in the Xinjiang region, have long been targeted by the government and forced to renounce their faith. Up to a million of them were arrested and detained in “political education” camps and even forced to pledge loyalty to the Community Party. Those who resist or refused to change were punished.

According to a report released by Human Rights Watch on Sunday, the so-called “re-education” centers had “no basis under Chinese law,” and that detainees were “denied due process rights and suffered torture and other ill-treatment.”

“The pain and anguish of families torn apart, with no knowledge of what’s happened to their loved ones stands in stark contrast to Beijing’s claims that Turkic Muslims are ‘happy’ and ‘grateful,’” Richardson said. “A failure to urgently press for an end to these abuses will only embolden Beijing.”