25th Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum – Religious Freedom

Dr. Bob Fu delivered a deeply personal and urgent testimony on religious persecution and human rights abuses in China under President Xi Jinping. Drawing from his own experiences—growing up under atheistic communism, participating in the 1989 Tiananmen Square student movement, converting to Christianity, and later being imprisoned for evangelism—he highlighted the systemic oppression of faith communities in China.

He described three “wars” waged by Xi Jinping:

1. War Against the Cross – Churches are compelled to remove crosses from rooftops, and leaders who resist face dismissal or extended imprisonment.
2. War Against God’s People – Individual pastors and believers are imprisoned, tortured, or separated from their families solely for practicing or preaching their faith. He cited the case of Pastor Wi, sentenced to nine years, with his family subjected to persecution.
3. War Against the Rule of Law – The Chinese government exports repression internationally through transnational enforcement, including kidnapping and imprisonment of dissidents and activists abroad, such as Pastor John Hall, and operating overseas police stations to enforce compliance.

Fu also emphasized the genocide and forced labor of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, including forced prostitution and organ harvesting, highlighting the extreme human rights violations sanctioned by the Chinese state. His plea was for governments, diplomats, and international actors, including Muslim-majority countries, to actively speak out for persecuted individuals. He stressed that even modest diplomatic interventions raising cases, advocating for religious freedom could save lives and promote justice. Dr. Fu concluded by urging collective responsibility, asking, “If you do not speak for your brothers and sisters in the concentration camp, who will speak?”