U.S. Senators introduce legislation to sanction CCP officials for religious persecution

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has introduced the ‘Combatting the Persecution of Religious Groups in the People’s Republic of China Act’ to impose sanctions on Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. Introduced by Senators Ted Budd and Tim Kaine, the legislation targets officials responsible for abuses of international religious freedom, including arbitrary detention, forced sterilization, torture, and forced labor.

The bill specifically names Tibetan Buddhists, Christians, Uyghur Muslims, and Falun Gong practitioners as groups facing persecution. It also aims to address transnational repression by directing the U.S. State Department to monitor the restriction of religious and ethnic minority rights both within China and abroad.

Under the proposed law, the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom would be required to submit annual reports to the Senate and House foreign affairs committees regarding sanctions imposed on officials for gross human rights violations. The legislation includes a Sense of Congress calling for an end to the harassment of religious groups and the release of unfairly detained political prisoners.