By Laurence F. Sanford

People persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is non-discriminatory. The CCP persecutes all people who dare believe in an ideology that does not conform to totalitarian Marxist ideology and diktats. Thus, Muslims, Christians, and Fulan Gong followers are persecuted, enslaved, thrown in jail, tortured, and in many instances murdered so their organs can be harvested and sold.

Marxism is atheistic — it does not believe in God. “Religion is the opium of the people” is one of Karl Marx’s more famous expressions. He argued that religion, like opium, relieved people of suffering and provided pleasant illusions of the future. Marxism persecutes religion because it offers an alternate paradise to the paradise Marxism preaches. Totalitarians abhor competition and demand control.

Thousands of ethnic Hui Muslims in Yunnan Province in southwestern China recently rioted after CCP Han authorities attempted to remove a mosque’s dome and minarets in order to “sinicize” religion. The same policy of “sinicizing” or eliminating a local non-Han culture is occurring in East Turkistan (Xinjiang) against the Uyghurs.

Sinicization policy aims to reduce foreign influence and align religion with CCP authoritarian rule. Ironically, Marxism, the intellectual foundation of the CCP, is of foreign origin — Germany. Karl Marx was born in Prussia, Germany, in 1818 and died in London, England, in 1883. Freidrich Engels and Marx published the Communist Manifesto in 1848.

The Han ethnic group accounts for 92% of China’s 1.4 billion population and dominates CCP leadership and cultural norms. Approximately 60 million Han Chinese live outside China, of which an estimated five million live in the United States.

Turkic Uyghur Muslims of East Turkistan (Xinjiang) have been subjected to CCP genocidal mass incarceration, torture, and death programs. An estimated one million Uyghurs have been jailed and enslaved in massive “reeducation” camps and forced to labor in cotton fields. Cultural erasure includes the destruction of mosques and Muslim graveyards and the sterilization of Uyghur women. Han Chinese have flooded into Xinjiang in order to dilute Uyghur presence. Uyghur wives, whose husbands are incarcerated, often are forced to accept Han police living in their homes and bedrooms.

Christian persecution by the CCP utilizes advanced surveillance technologies, such as facial recognition systems, to make it difficult for Christians to practice their faith freely. The persecution includes church demolitions, removal of the Cross on buildings, and church leaders being imprisoned and tortured. Chinese Christians are imprisoned in secretive “brainwashing” camps operated by the United Front Work Department (UFWD) of the CCP.

The UFWD’s purpose is to co-opt and neutralize sources of potential opposition to CCP policies and authority inside and outside of China. Gray zone tactics outside of China include “police stations” in major cities such as New York, Confucius Institutes, student organizations pressuring universities to cancel visits by dignitaries such as the Dali Lama, and censoring art that criticizes CCP policies. Chinese thugs also intimidate dissidents living outside of China to return to China to face “telecommunications fraud” by threatening to harm family members who reside in China. CCP authorities claim 230,000 nationals were “persuaded” to return to China from April 2021 to July 2022.

The current Roman Catholic Jesuit Pope, Francis I, accepts the sinicization of the Church. In a secret deal, the pope agreed to the CCP Catholic Patriotic Association (CPA) having a prominent role in appointing bishops even though Catholic canon law specifies that only the Holy See has the right to appoint bishops. Other CCP Christian persecution policies include making it illegal to attend an unauthorized church, editing the Bible to reflect socialist values, and arresting priests who are not CCP-approved. Protestant churches are also persecuted and subject to sinicization policies.

Fulan Gong, also called Fulan Dafa, or in Chinese “Discipline of the Dharma Wheel,” is a spiritual movement founded in China in 1992. It grew to an estimated 60 million followers based on a mixture of traditional Chinese medicine and self-cultivation practices. Initially approved by the CCP, it became a heretical cult after it became a social force with millions of adherents and was persecuted. How many jailed Fulan Gong members were and are being killed to harvest body organs for sale in organ transplant operations is unknown. Fearing political prosecution, the founder, Li Hongshi, fled to New York in 1995. He established headquarters and media outlet The Epoch Times, a weekly newspaper advocating for freedom of religion in China and the world.

CCP Marxism is socialism with Chinese characteristics. It combines Marxist theory of grievances (oppressed vs. oppressors) with present conditions in China. Domination and control is the mantra for all totalitarian ideologies. In order to achieve its goals, purity of thoughts and deeds to the dogma is mandatory. Any deviation, such as belief in God, is to be crushed.

The United States is facing unrestricted warfare from the CCP utilizing all organs of Chinese society. All businesses, government organizations, individuals, and the military are subject to CCP direction and control. Never trust a communist when he/she says their organization would never send data to the CCP intelligence agencies. Recently, the TikTok CEO blatantly lied to the U.S. Congress about data on American citizens not being transmitted to China. TikTok is a national security threat manipulating American citizens into believing socialism in China is good and capitalism in America is bad.

Actions:

1. Reciprocity — If American media cannot function in China, then Chinese media should not be allowed to function in America. If Americans cannot buy land in China, then the Chinese cannot buy land in America.
2. Increase gray zone actions — that area between kinetic warfare and diplomatic activity — by increasing tariffs and expanding Voice of America broadcasts and internet media.
3. Protect America’s homeland — Thousands of military-fit Chinese single males are crossing our southern border along with millions of illegal immigrants and fentanyl.
4. Ban Chinese students from graduate programs in science and technology.
5. Strengthen cybersecurity against intellectual and military theft by China.
6. Increase military budget.

Laurence F. Sanford is a senior analyst at the American Security Council Foundation.