Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, Mar. 28: The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has once again designated China as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) in its latest report, citing Beijing’s persistent violations of religious freedom, including its intention to interfere in His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s succession process and persecution of Tibetans resisting such actions.
The USCIRF, an independent congressional body that advises but does not represent the U.S. government, issued one of its sharpest criticisms, stating that China remains among the world’s worst violators of religious freedom. It highlighted the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) continued enforcement of its “sinicization of religion” policy under the leadership of Xi Jinping, demanding absolute loyalty and control over religious communities.
The 2025 USCIRF Annual Report detailed Beijing’s systematic suppression of Tibetan Buddhism, including a ban on new monk admissions in Chamdo prefecture, restrictions on religious activities during Saga Dawa in Lhasa, and forced removal of religious symbols from Tibetan homes in parts of present-day Sichuan Province. Authorities also shut down monastery schools, forcing Tibetan children into state-run boarding institutions aimed at assimilation. Police arrested and imprisoned Tibetan Buddhists for publicly or privately mentioning the Dalai Lama.
The crackdown extended beyond Tibetan Buddhists to include Uyghurs, underground Catholic clergy, Protestant pastor Kan Xiaoyong, Falun Gong practitioners, and members of the Church of Almighty God (CAG). The report also detailed China’s use of high-tech surveillance at places of worship and its global campaign of transnational repression, including threats, blackmail, and coercion against diaspora communities to silence critics.
USCIRF urged the U.S. government to re-designate China as a CPC under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) and coordinate with international allies to impose targeted sanctions on Chinese officials responsible for severe religious freedom violations, particularly those involved in interfering with the Dalai Lama’s succession process.
The report is created annually by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA), USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan U.S. government advisory body, separate from the State Department, that monitors and reports on religious freedom abroad and makes policy recommendations to the president, secretary of state, and Congress. USCIRF bases these recommendations on the provisions of its authorizing legislation and the standards in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and other international documents. USCIRF’s mandate and annual reports are different from and complementary to, the mandate and annual reports of the State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom.
