IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 493 

Condemning the persecution of Christians in China. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 16, 2019 

Mrs. HARTZLER (for herself and Ms. SPEIER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning the persecution of Christians in China. 

Whereas, according to the Department of State, there are an 

estimated 12,000,000 Chinese Catholics and 60,000,000 

to 80,000,000 Chinese Protestants worshipping in both 

officially registered and unregistered churches in China; 

Whereas the activities of state-sanctioned religious organizations are regulated by the Chinese Communist Party, 

which manages all aspects of religious life; 

Whereas the practice of Christianity is overseen by four 

major entities: The-Self Patriotic Movement, the China 

Christian Council, the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, and the Bishops Conference of Catholic Church in 

China; 


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•HRES 493 IH 

Whereas the Chinese government is actively seeking to control, govern, and manipulate all aspects of faith through 

the ‘‘Sinicization of Religion’’, a process intended to 

shape religious traditions and doctrines so they conform 

with the objectives of the Chinese government and Communist Party; 

Whereas, on February 1, 2018, the Chinese government implemented new religious regulations that imposed restrictions on Chinese contacts with overseas religious organizations, required government approval for religious 

schools, websites, and any online religious services, and 

effectively banned unauthorized religious gatherings and 

teachings; 

Whereas, since February 1, 2018, forced closures of churches, arbitrary detention, and arrests of unregistered Christian clergy and practitioners have steadily increased; 

Whereas Chinese authorities actively harass, arrest, interrogate, and detain unregistered and registered Christian 

clergy and practitioners; 

Whereas Chinese authorities raid house churches and confiscate religious paraphernalia, including crosses and bibles; 

Whereas, according to the Department of State, churches experience increased restrictions and surveillance by the 

Chinese government, including efforts to install security 

cameras on church property; 

Whereas in Zhejiang Province, home to one of China’s largest 

Christian populations, crosses have been torn down from 

1,200 to 1,700 churches since 2015; 

Whereas, as part of China’s ‘‘Sinicization of Religion’’ campaign, Beijing’s Zion Church was shut down as well as 


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•HRES 493 IH 

other ‘‘unauthorized churches’’ in Henan, Jiangxi, 

Zhejiang, Guangdong, Liaoning, and Hebei Provinces; 

Whereas while the Holy See’s recent deal with the Chinese 

government reportedly provides a Papal veto over Catholic bishops nominated by the government-supported 

Bishops Conference and was intended to protect religious 

freedom, persecution of Chinese Catholics has intensified 

and new restrictions on religious practice have been in 

place since the agreement was signed; 

Whereas a Catholic church in Xingjiang city of Yining had 

its three crosses, two bell towers, and two statues demolished by authorities, and religious features on the 

church’s exterior walls and mosaics were covered with 

paint; 

Whereas two Marian shrines were destroyed including the 

Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows in Dongergo, Shanxi 

Province, and Our Lady of Bliss in Anlong, Guizhou 

Province; 

Whereas, in June of 2019, Fujian Province officials issued 

requirements requiring Catholic priests to ban minors 

from church and education, to stop relationships with 

foreign Catholics, to end any missionary efforts, and to 

prohibit posting religious topics online; 

Whereas a Chinese official in Luoning county, Henan Province, recently erased the First Commandment from a list 

of the Ten Commandments hanging on a wall inside a 

church; 

Whereas it has been reported that China is going to ‘‘rewrite’’ and issue a version of the Bible with the ‘‘correct 

understanding’’ of the text according to the government; 


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•HRES 493 IH 

Whereas Chinese authorities have banned children and students from attending church services; 

Whereas, in January 2018, Chinese authorities destroyed the 

50,000-member Linfen Golden Lampstand Church; 

Whereas Chinese authorities have attempted to remove 

crosses and replace them with the Chinese flag and slogans praising the Communist Party and President Xi 

Jinping; 

Whereas state-sanctioned Protestant churches have also faced 

property destruction, cross removal, and closure by Chinese authorities; 

Whereas according to the United States Commission on 

International Religious Freedom, more than 5,000 Christians and 1,000 church leaders were arrested in 2018 because of their faith or religious practices; 

Whereas Chinese authorities torture lawyers, human rights 

defenders, and other prisoners of conscience of all faiths; 

Whereas, according to the Department of State, the Chinese 

government has imprisoned thousands of individuals of 

all faiths for practicing their religious beliefs and often 

labels them as ‘‘cults’’; 

Whereas, as part of its crackdown, the Chinese government 

arbitrarily detained Pastor Wang Yi of Early Rain Covenant Church along with numerous church members, and 

blocked worshippers from entering the building; 

Whereas many Early Rain Covenant Church members were 

forced to renounce their faith and tortured in order to 

give confessions accusing Pastor Yi of making statements 

against the Chinese Communist Party; 


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•HRES 493 IH 

Whereas Pastor John Cao, a United States permanent resident from Greensboro, North Carolina, has been detained 

in a Chinese prison since March 2017 for his humanitarian and missionary work in Burma under contrived 

charges of organizing illegal border crossings; 

Whereas, since 1999, the Department of State has designated 

China as a country of particular concern under the International Religious Freedom Act; 

Whereas the Department of State has hosted Ministerials to 

Advance International Religious Freedom in 2018 and 

again in 2019 to engage like-minded allies to advance religious freedom protections globally, including by protecting vulnerable religious minorities; and 

Whereas, as the 2017 National Security Strategy of the 

United States explains, we must seek to ‘‘advance American influence’’ by ‘‘protect[ing] religious freedom’’: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) reaffirms the commitment of the United 

3 States to promoting religious freedom in China and 

4 calls on the President and the Secretary of State to 

5 strengthen United States religious freedom diplo6 macy on behalf of Christians facing restrictions in 

7 China; 

8 (2) calls on the President, the Secretary of 

9 State, and the United States Trade Representative 

10 to ensure that trade negotiations include religious 

11 freedom conditions as mandated by the Bipartisan 


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•HRES 493 IH 

1 Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability 

2 Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 4201 et seq.); 

3 (3) encourages the President to use the authori4 ties available under the International Religious Free5 dom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.), the 

6 Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 

7 2016 (Public Law 114–281; 130 Stat. 1426), and 

8 the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability 

9 Act (subtitle F of title XII of the National Defense 

10 Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017; 22 U.S.C. 

11 2656 note) to address particularly severe religious 

12 freedom restrictions in China by holding Chinese of13 ficials accountable for their complicity in egregious 

14 violations of internationally recognized human 

15 rights; 

16 (4) calls on the President, the Secretary of 

17 State, the Ambassador at Large for International 

18 Religious Freedom, and Members of Congress to le19 verage the growing network of foreign international 

20 religious freedom focused institutions and parliamen21 tary groups; 

22 (5) urges the Ambassador at Large for Inter23 national Religious Freedom to develop an action 

24 plan to creatively employ religious freedom program25 ming; 


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•HRES 493 IH 

1 (6) calls on the President and Secretary of 

2 State to raise cases relating to religious or political 

3 prisoners at the highest levels with Chinese officials, 

4 such as the case of Pastor Wang Yi of the Early 

5 Rain Church, because experience demonstrates that 

6 consistently raising prisoner cases can result in im7 proved treatment, reduced sentences, or in some 

8 cases, release from custody, detention, or imprison9 ment; 

10 (7) encourages Members of Congress to 

11 ‘‘adopt’’ a prisoner of conscience in China through 

12 the Lantos Human Rights Commission’s ‘‘Defending 

13 Freedom Project’’, raise the case with Chinese offi14 cials, and work publicly for their release; 

15 (8) calls on the Chinese government to uncondi16 tionally release religious and political prisoners or, at 

17 the very least, ensure that detainees are treated hu18 manely with access to family, the lawyer of their 

19 choice, independent medical care, and the ability to 

20 practice their faith while in detention; and 

21 (9) encourages the global faith community to 

22 speak in solidarity with the persecuted Christians in 

23 China. 

Æ 


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