At a congressional hearing on Feb. 4, former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback testified on the global state of religious freedom.<\/p>\n
Hij asserted<\/a> that China continues to aid authoritarian and communist nations worldwide in their quest to suppress religious freedom.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are seeing something unprecedented, really, right now in the world,\u201d Brownback stated. \u201cThere\u2019s an alliance of nations that\u2019s emerged, that sees religious freedom as the greatest internal threat to their dictatorial control. This alliance of communist, authoritarian, [and] totalitarian regimes will literally stop at nothing to control people of faith.\u201d<\/p>\n Brownback continued, explaining that China is the main driver of assistance to religious persecutors throughout the world.<\/p>\n \u201cThe community of faith has become the target of this dark alliance that we\u2019re facing off against, and China\u2019s the puppet master behind all of it,\u201d Brownback said.<\/p>\n China\u2019s advanced use of technological surveillance via cameras and internet tracking is used to spy on individuals and state-sanctioned churches. The surveillance can be used to track citizens\u2019 involvement in faith-based activities, drawing unwanted attention and harassment from authorities if an individual is deemed a threat.<\/p>\n According to Bob Fu of China Aid, Chinese surveillance is reaching new heights.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Chinese Communist Party has a powerful civilian surveillance system with hundreds of millions of face-recognition cameras,\u201d Fu dat<\/a>. \u201cThey are all over China, including all the four walls of the church building and pulpits and every corner of the street.\u201d<\/p>\n Known as \u2018digital authoritarianism,\u2019 China is sharing its technological surveillance programs with nations, including Iran, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, that are known for religious freedom abuses.<\/p>\n According to Premier Christian News, Professor Stephen Schneck of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) explained<\/a> that the tactics being used allow for the worsening of religious persecution.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of these new technologies used by countries like Iran and China create brand new ways for the repression of religion or the control of religion around the world,\u201d Schneck said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn China, facial recognition techniques allow the Chinese Communist Party to monitor those who attend religious ceremonies, and so it enables them to track them and to repress them at a level that wasn\u2019t available to them before.\u201d<\/p>\n Schneck continued, saying the tactics being used stir up fear and should be taken very seriously.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s truly Orwellian, and it is, I fear, the shape of the world to come. So now is the time for us to begin developing mechanisms to respond to it within the faith communities around the world,\u201d Schneck stated.<\/p>\n Verhaal door Lynn Arias<\/p>\n Bezoek voor meer nieuwsberichten de\u00a0ICC Newsroom<\/a>. Voor interviews, stuur een e-mail naar<\/strong>\u202fpress@persecution.org.<\/a>\u00a0Om het werk van ICC over de hele wereld te steunen, doneer aan ons\u00a0Where Most Needed Fund<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Het bericht China benoemd tot wereldwijde \u2018poppenspeler\u2019 van religieuze vervolging<\/a> verscheen voor het eerst op International Christian Concern<\/a>.<\/p>\n