China

Once Jailed for 3 Years, Jilin Woman Gets Another Seven Years for Practicing Falun Gong

By a Minghui correspondent in Jilin Province, China (Minghui.org - Dec. 14, 2024) — Ms. Zhang Xiufang, 63, from Dongfeng County, Jilin Province, was recently sentenced to seven years for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Chinese authorities confine young monks in ‘prison-like’ conditions in government-run schools

The measure is part of China‘s attempts to enforce ’patriotic education’ among Tibetan students.

By RFA Tibetan — Hundreds of young Tibetan Buddhist monks from Kirti Monastery who were forcibly transferred in September to government-run boarding schools in Sichuan province’s Ngaba county, are being held in “prison-like conditions” in the schools, two sources from the region said. 

Guangdong’s Harsh Persecution of Church of Almighty God Members

by Jiang Tao — Since the CCP initiated a three-year “general battle” in 2019 targeting The Church of Almighty God (CAG), its members have endured escalating persecution, marked by a substantial increase in arrests and convictions. The situation in Guangdong Province has been particularly severe, according to church members and court records “Bitter Winter” has had access to through an insider source.

No privacy for the Church of Almighty God in the Rome-Beijing plot

Bitter Winter reports the gruesome story of the release of personal data of Chinese asylum seekers who are members of the Church of Almighty God. Whatever one's stance there may be about minority religious groups, which anti-cult and against-cult organizations continue to call cults and abusive sects – or even specifically towards this Chinese community, the State should ensure the utmost secrecy and protection of the data of asylum seekers.

The European Parliament takes a stand against the persecution of Falun Gong in China

As reported in an article published in Bitter Winter by Yang Feng, according to a Falun Gong report, in 2023, 1,188 worshippers were sentenced to death, while 209 were killed. The thorny issue of organ harvesting to which Falun Gong worshippers sentenced to death are subjected, but also believers of other religions such as Uyghur Muslims and Christians of the Church of Almighty God, has come to the attention of the European Parliament (...)

Human Rights, China and the Winter Olympics – Boycott or not boycott?

The Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games are upon us and the debate on whether to participate or boycott the event that will give more and more prestige to China, to its government by mitigating or hiding its policies of violation of human rights, is more current than ever. On the subject we publish an article signed by the scholar Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy for Human Rights Without Frontiers.

Another giant statue of Buddha torn down in Drago County

Tibet Watch — Monks and civilians arrested and tortured in detention amid a wave of demolitions. Tibet Watch has learned from sources that another giant statue of Buddha was torn down amid a wave of ongoing demolitions in Drago County that has also seen a 99-foot Buddha statue, 45 prayer wheels, and a Tibetan monastic school torn down. Several monks and civilians were detained for expressing their disapproval. They have been given little food while in detention and at least some have been tortured.

China destroys a Buddha statue to destroy its religion

While the West is celebrating the holiday season with, New Year and Epiphany, and China prepares to celebrate the Chinese New Year, the Tibetan people mourn the destruction - yet another - of a symbol of their millennial religion and culture implemented by the despotic and dismal dictatorship of the Chinese Communist Party. A little less than a month to the start of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China is once again showing the international community its true face in disregard for the human rights that animate the Games and the feelings of the other participating nations.

Italian justice recognizes the right to asylum of members of the Church of Almighty God

2021 ends with good news for the CAG (Church of Almighty God), the Christian congregation targeted by the Chinese Communist Party. Two important sentences, one by the Supreme Court of Cassation and one by the Court of Rome, established that the members of the CAG are persecuted by the Chinese regime, both at home and abroad, and therefore have the right to asylum in Italy.

Environmentalist in near-death condition after torture in custody

Dhongye has been in detention since 2018 with little information about his condition until now. According to a Tibet Watch source, Tibetan environmentalist Dhongye is in a ‘near-death’ condition after beatings and torture while in Chinese police custody in Driru County in the area of Tibet governed as the Tibet Autonomous Region. There are currently no further details about his whereabouts.

A hope for Uighur people to defite forced labor in the Xinjiang

After numerous stances against the crimes perpetrated by the CCP against the Uyghur populations, configurable in the hateful crime of genocide, the time has come for concrete facts. A bill called the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (HR 6256), was passed by the United States House on December 14, 2021, and by Senate on December 16. Ratification by President Biden is now awaited.

Tibetan Monk Sentenced to Five Years for Publishing Writings of the Dalai Lama

TibetWatch — In September 2021, Trinley, a Tibetan monk from Kirti Monastery in Ngaba County (Ch: Aba), was given a five-year prison sentence after being found guilty of publishing the teachings and writings of the Tibetan spiritual leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Ngaba County People’s Court held the trial in secret without the presence of his family members and lawyers.

Human Rights Day: a Story to Think About

How far can the hatred generated by intolerance towards religious minorities go? The article of which we repropose here below some excerpts provides an eloquent answer. In this case to pay the costs of the murderous hatred of ignorant Muslim crowds are faithful Hindus and Christians, i.e. the faithful of two of the major religions on Earth, in the Islamic world, however, they are often in the minority.

USCIRF Releases Factsheet on China’s Measures on the Management of Religious Clergy

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released the following new report:

China Factsheet – This factsheet provides an overview of the new Chinese government Measures on the Management of Religious Clergy and their adverse impact on religious freedom in China.

Two Tibetan youngsters detained for chat group in Tibetan language

Tibet Watch — Two Tibetan youngsters named Yang Ri and Guldak were detained on 24 August 2021, in Darlak Township in Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, which is governed as part of Qinghai Province. They were reportedly arrested for being outspoken about a recent notification that issued the complete replacement of textbooks in Tibetan with textbooks in Chinese. Local Authorities notified the parents and families about the change prior to the start of the fall semester, stating that from September 2021 onwards, all their children must go to school only with the newly introduced textbooks in Chinese. Photographic evidence received from sources shows police authorities sitting outdoors on the grassland explaining this to Tibetan parents.

The Uyghur Tribunal’s Second Session Launched in London

by Ruth Ingram — The independent Tribunal aiming to examine evidence of China’s human rights abuses against the Uyghur people in China’s Xinjiang autonomous region, opened against a volley of attacks against the proceedings, which the CCP claimed were a “political farce” and “pseudo court” “used by terrorists and anti-China forces to smear China’s anti-terrorist efforts in the Xinjiang region.” Objecting to the aim of the tribunal, which is to assess whether a genocide has been carried out by the Chinese government against its own people, the Chinese Embassy in the UK joined forces with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Government of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to jointly condemn the event, slated as “another group of ‘actors and actresses’ getting together with anti-China forces” “in an attempt to offer sensational but fake materials to Western media and make stories about the ‘evil China.’”

Around 50 Tibetans arrested on suspicion of keeping photos of the Dalai Lama

Military search operation in Dza Wonpo Town enforced eight months on from the death in custody of 19-year-old Tenzin Nyima. On 22 August, around 200 military personnel and nine military vehicles arrived in Dza Wonpo Town and carried out mass arrests of around 50 people. The town is located in Sershul County, Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in the eastern Tibetan region of Kham. None of the detainees in Chinese police custody are allowed to meet their family or friends and the official reason for their arrest has not been disclosed.