Is China Using Technology To Suppress Religious Freedom? US Thinks So..

The Chinese government's persecution of religious freedom has extended beyond its borders, and the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and human rights groups are concerned that emerging technologies could be used as tools of repression. In addition, China's active lobbying in the United States may also be a warning sign of its efforts to suppress freedom.

US Senator Marco Rubio has drawn attention to the Chinese government's persecution of religious believers within China, as well as its "long arm of control" over dissenters and ethnic minorities overseas. Senator Rubio stated that the Beijing government's religious persecution has become more violent and systematic, and that the US must do everything it can to combat it.

In a recorded video statement for a hearing of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which is under the jurisdiction of the US Congress, Senator Rubio said: "The Chinese Communist Party has always attacked religious freedom. Today, Beijing's attacks are more violent and systematic than ever before, and in Xinjiang, they even constitute genocide. The CCP's agents have also targeted Chinese-American believers in the US, believing that their faith undermines the legitimacy of the regime. This is a threat to US national security and fundamental human rights."

Mobile apps used as surveillance tools

Senator Rubio introduced legislation this Tuesday to ban TikTok, the international version of Douyin, in the United States over concerns that its parent company, ByteDance, shares data with the Chinese government. The use of emerging technologies as tools for the Chinese government to monitor people overseas was one of the main focuses of the hearing.

Nury Turkel, Chairman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, stated that religious freedom in China has been deteriorating for the past decade and that the Chinese government has been using technology authoritarianism and transnational repression, as well as Chinese tech companies, as tools to continue its persecution both domestically and abroad.

Turkel: "The Chinese government uses advanced surveillance technology as a tool to repress Xinjiang. Chinese tech companies, both state-owned and private, such as Huawei, play a crucial role in helping the CCP carry out its repressive policies in the Uyghur region. Even after fleeing to other countries, Uyghurs continue to face intimidation."

Wang Yaqiu, China researcher for Human Rights Watch, who attended the hearing, cited the example of WeChat to illustrate how it has become one of the few mobile apps that can be used inside China. Because WeChat covers communication, social networking, finance and other aspects of people's lives, both people inside and outside of China have become heavily reliant on it, but as a result, they are also forced to become targets of surveillance.

Wang Yaqiu: "One of the powerful tools that the Chinese government uses to investigate and censor overseas individuals is WeChat. Almost everyone who has a smartphone in China is required to use it, and anyone overseas who wants to contact people inside China also has to use this application, which forces them to be subject to the government's investigation and surveillance."

In addition to transnational repression, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom is also concerned about the lobbying efforts of the Beijing government towards transnational companies and foreign governments. Turkel stated that many large transnational companies have compromised with the Chinese government for commercial interests, including sharing user privacy, and lobbying US legislators to oppose the recently passed Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

Zack Smith, a legal researcher for The Heritage Foundation, who attended the hearing, said that while it is not legally possible to restrict US companies from lobbying for the positions they support, it is possible to educate transnational companies and US government officials about the potential national security risks of supporting the lobbying efforts of the Chinese government.

Smith: "I absolutely think that there needs to be an education campaign for candidates and government officials to understand the influence that China and other authoritarian regimes are trying to have on our government, the ways that they are taking action through various entities and companies to do so, and this is also true at the state and local level. The Chinese government is generally trying to push their ideas, their worldview and their ideology across all levels of government in the United States."

A recent report by The Heritage Foundation showed that China has been trying to influence local governments in the United States and has been very active in lobbying state and local politics. It stated that the scope and persistence of Chinese government involvement far surpasses that of any other geopolitical rival.