(Washington – March 5, 2026) The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) officially released its 2026 Annual Report yesterday (4th). The report summarizes global religious freedom trends in 2025 and emphasizes that the Chinese government continues to implement “systematic, ongoing, and egregious” human rights violations. The Commission strongly recommends that the U.S. government redesignate China as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) and initiate targeted sanctions against officials involved in persecution.
The report notes that the status of religious freedom in China showed no improvement over the past year. As the highest level of designation established by the U.S. under the International Religious Freedom Act, “Country of Particular Concern” is intended to label regimes that commit or tolerate severe violations of religious rights.
The report highlights that policies targeting Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities remain one of the most serious issues globally. Despite great international concern, Chinese authorities continue to weaken local religious life and cultural identity through mass surveillance, restrictions on religious education, and the remodeling of mosques.
Regarding Tibet, the report focuses on the strict surveillance of Tibetan monks and specifically mentions authorities’ attempts to regulate the Tibetan Buddhist reincarnation process, and the succession of the Dalai Lama. Furthermore, the report warns about the Tibetan residential boarding school system, arguing it is designed to sever the connection between Tibetan children and their traditional culture.
With the advancement of the “Sinicization of Religion” policy, unregistered Protestant house churches face closures, and incidents of religious leaders being detained are frequent. Regulatory thresholds for both online religious activities and offline gatherings have also risen significantly.
For the first time, the report increased its focus on the Chinese government’s “transnational repression” tactics, including threats and surveillance of overseas dissidents, or silencing them by applying pressure to their relatives within China.
The Commission proposed the following recommendations for action to the U.S. government, Congress, and the State Department:
- Redesignate China on the “Country of Particular Concern” list for its worst record on religious freedom.
- Utilize the “Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act” to implement visa restrictions and asset freezes on officials involved in persecution.
- Join forces with allies to promote human rights issues in international forums and strengthen protections for threatened activists.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is a bipartisan, independent agency established under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. Its mandate is to assess the status of religious freedom globally and provide policy recommendations to the executive branch. Although its recommendations are not legally binding, they play a landmark role in shaping U.S. human rights foreign policy.
Gao Zhensai, Special Correspondent for ChinaAid
