(Tokyo, Japan – July 30, 2024) The International Religious Freedom Summit Asia was held in Tokyo, Japan on July 22 to discuss religious freedom in Asia, with China becoming one of the focuses of the discussion.

The summit was led by Sam Brownback, former US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, and Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, former Chair of the US Commission on Religious Freedom (USCIRF), and about 200 politicians, diplomats, scholars, theologians, missionaries and clergy from around the world gathered together.

In his opening remarks, Brownback said, “The international religious freedom movement is like a hodgepodge that has never been put together.” He said, “80% of the world’s population believes in a certain religion. If we protect people’s right to practice their faith freely, peacefully and without persecution anywhere in the world, you have an ‘army’ behind you.”

Because 60% of the world’s population lives in Asia, where several regions are hot spots for global persecution, which has become the focus of the international religious freedom movement.

In his speech, President Lai Ching-te of the Republic of China (Taiwan) said that religious freedom continues to be eroded in China under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party. Lai Ching-te said, “The Chinese Communist authorities continue to increase their repression of minority groups such as Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, and Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. Sacred places of worship have been destroyed, and large numbers of devout believers have been imprisoned in re-education camps and even subjected to harsher treatment.”

Lai Ching-te said during the martial law period in Taiwan, Taiwanese preaching was banned, and the leaders of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan became the targets of repression by the authoritarian regime. But with the unremitting efforts of the Taiwanese people, the sacrifices of democracy activists, and the support of democratic countries, Taiwan has become a vibrant democracy and a beacon of religious freedom in Asia.

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pointed out at the summit that China under the rule of the Communist Party of China is a “surveillance state” that is “unprecedented in human history” that would make the Nazis and the Stasi ashamed. He admitted that his failure to protect Hong Kong’s freedom and to take timely measures to protect Jimmy Lai and others was his biggest failure during his tenure.

He also accused China of allowing the Wuhan coronavirus to “leak from the laboratory” and “sent thousands of people on planes to Milan, spreading a relatively deadly and highly contagious virus that killed millions of people and destroyed the global economy.” “It is one of the most serious crimes in modern history that has caused deaths.”

At the meeting, Pompeo criticized Pope Francis for making too many compromises with China, which would cause the church to lose its moral authority.

Saho Matsumoto, a professor at Nihon University, warned that the Vatican’s intention to set up a permanent office in China would involve many compromises, accept China’s veto over the Pope’s appointment of bishops, violate the agreement signed by the two sides in 2018, and could open the door to the “Sinicization” of the Chinese Catholic Church.

Matsumoto pointed out that China may put forward another condition in exchange for the Vatican’s severance of diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Although there are many challenges to improving diplomatic relations, Matsumoto believes that the Vatican is willing to negotiate.

Rev. Bob Fu, president of China Aid, spoke about the increasing political persecution and repression of the Chinese Communist Party at the “Freedom of Belief Under Authoritarian Governments” forum.

“In addition to the genocide of groups such as Uyghurs and Tibetans, Chinese Christians are experiencing the worst persecution since the Cultural Revolution.” Dr. Fu said that since Xi Jinping came to power, China has shown a worrying trend from “control and assimilation” to “eradication and elimination.”

Pastor Bob Fu pointed out that “people have to hide the Bible under their pillows. This only happened in the 1960s during the Cultural Revolution under Mao Zedong. People who report illegal religious activities can receive monetary rewards. We have seen the Communist Party completely ban Christian private schools, and for the first time since 1955, missionaries have been expelled from the country, even those engaged in charity activities, including those who help orphans.”

He mentioned that this kind of religious persecution is mostly carried out under the banner of “sinicization”. The Chinese Communist Party orders churches and mosques to sing songs praising the Communist Party before singing hymns, or put pictures of Xi Jinping and Mao Zedong on the pulpit of the church.

Pastor Fu also said that many pastors in China have been accused of commercial fraud for collecting donations from believers, which puts them at greater risk of persecution.

The International Religious Freedom Asia Summit was held in Taipei last year, starting the process of encouraging Asian democracies to join the International Religious Freedom Alliance to jointly defend religious freedom in Asia and the world.