Hearing opens on global religious freedom, speaker highlights alleged Uighur repression in China

An unidentified speaker at a House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing opened the session by calling religious freedom "America's first freedom" and warned that persecution worldwide has worsened.

The speaker cited the Open Doors 2025 World Watch List, saying "more than 380,000,000 Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination," and described rising antisemitism in Western democracies. He said authoritarian governments including China, Russia, North Korea, Belarus and Cuba repress independent religious activity and restrict worship.

On China, the speaker said he chairs the China Commission and described personal attempts to visit Xinjiang and inspect alleged detention sites, which he said Chinese authorities have blocked. He said Uighur Muslims face mass imprisonment, forced re-education and cultural erasure, and stated that Uighurs are "suffering genocide." He also said China issued a recent decree effectively banning foreign missionaries from evangelizing inside the country and described limits on bringing Bibles into China.

The speaker recounted meeting Bishop Xu Ximing, identified in the remarks as a leader of the underground Catholic church who spent decades in prison and later disappeared. He used the anecdote to emphasize both the human cost of repression and the resilience of religious leaders who continue to pray for persecutors.

The statement accused segments of the business community of complacency or complicity with authoritarian regimes and called for increased pressure on China; the speaker said international accountability mechanisms should be considered for leaders he accused of crimes against humanity.

The hearing's opening remarks framed the session's purpose as drawing attention to religious persecution and preparing for witness testimony about detained church leaders. The speaker urged colleagues to sustain oversight and advocacy.