WASHINGTON D.C. — On May 12, the Hudson Institute hosted former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback as he unveiled his new book, China’s War on Faith, while calling attention to what he described as the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) systematic assault on religious belief and freedom of speech.
The event, titled “China’s Persecution: Assault on All Faiths,” brought together survivors of persecution, religious freedom advocates, and activists from across China’s religious and ethnic communities, including Christians, Falun Gong practitioners, Uyghurs, Tibetan Buddhists, and Hong Kong democracy supporters.
Hosted by Nina Shea and Brownback’s co-writer, Michael Arkush, speakers included former Congressman Frank Wolf, Falun Gong practitioner Wang Chunyan, former Uyghur detainee Mihrigul Tursun, Hong Kong activist Frances Hui, former NBA player and activist Enes Freedom, Tibetan Buddhist leader Arjia Rinpoche, and several Christian leaders, including Pastor Peter Xu, Pastor Pan Yongguang of the Mayflower Church, and Pastor Corey Jackson of the Luke Alliance.
An assault on faith
Brownback said the persecution campaign carried out by the CCP was not isolated or accidental, but a deliberate state policy targeting all belief systems that do not fit the mold of authoritarianism. “It’s a war they will not win, but it is a war,” said Brownback. “We’re in it, and you’re all involved in it.”
The former ambassador framed the struggle as a broader ideological conflict between autocracy and religious liberty, warning that the CCP views faith as a threat to its iron-fisted control. “We’re in a battle today with the Chinese Communist Party and their authoritarian view, and their view that religion is an opium of the people and something that should be thrown out, discarded, persecuted, stomped and killed,” he said. “All faiths.”
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Brownback also urged U.S. President Donald Trump to publicly raise the issue of religious freedom with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during ongoing U.S.-China discussions. “When Xi Jinping brings up Taiwan, I hope President Trump brings up religious freedom,” Brownback said.
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Horrfying testimonies of abuse
One of the most emotional and impactful testimonies came from Wang Chunyan, a Falun Gong practitioner from Dalian Province who spent seven years imprisoned in China for refusing to renounce her faith in the practice. During the event, organizers said Wang endured brutal torture while in detention and believes her husband was persecuted to death during the campaign against her.
Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is an ancient meditation practice rooted in the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. It was introduced to the public in 1992. Despite being peaceful in nature, the CCP launched a brutal campaign to eradicate the practice in July 1999. Since then, thousands have since perished at the hands of Chinese police, with many adherents today still undergoing routine surveillance, arbitrary travel bans, and arrests for refusing to renounce their faith.
According to Minghui, A U.S.-based website that tracks and documents the persecution of Falun Gong, more than 4,000 practitioners have died as a result of torture and abuse at the hands of Chinese authorities. However, based on first-hand accounts from those living under perpetual harassment by the CCP’s various security organizations, the practice’s adherents speculate the real number of deaths to be in the hundreds of thousands, or even millions.
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According to excerpts read aloud from Brownback’s book, Wang was beaten with iron rods, forced to sit motionless for hours, and repeatedly pressured to sign statements renouncing her beliefs. But still, she refused. “Once a person understands the true meaning of faith, they are often willing to pay the ultimate price, even sacrificing their life,” Wang said through a translator. “Falun Gong practitioners, even when arrested or sentenced and facing the threat of forced organ harvesting, continue to clarify the truth.”
Enduring through hardship
The event also featured testimony from persecuted Christian leaders connected to China’s underground house church movement. Pastor Peter Xu, who organizers said was tortured while suspended in a crucifixion-like position for hours in prison, explained why he refused to surrender his beliefs despite enduring extreme physical suffering. “The path of following the Lord is a path of denying oneself, carrying one’s own cross and following him,” Xu, founder of the Born Again Movement, said.
Pastor Pan Yongguang, founder of the Mayflower Church, recounted his congregation’s escape from China through South Korea and Thailand before eventually reaching the U.S. He described the journey as “a miracle” and credited outside international pressure for helping save the group from deportation back to mainland China.
Another speaker, Pastor Corey Jackson with the Luke Alliance, provided an update on imprisoned Chinese pastor Wang Yi, who remains incarcerated years after his arrest. Jackson said Wang Yi had lost significant weight in prison and lacked access to regular medical care, but that “his soul is intact.” “He holds on to his faith, even though he’s in prison in these awful conditions,” Jackson said.
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Surveillance, repression, intimidation
Former NBA player Enes Freedom also spoke at the event, describing how his advocacy for Uyghurs, Tibetans, Hong Kongers, and Falun Gong practitioners cost him endorsement deals and effectively ended his basketball career. “China, I believe, is the biggest threat to the free world,” Freedom said. “We have to wake up before it’s too late.”
Freedom also warned about what he described as growing CCP influence inside the U.S., pointing to the recent guilty plea of California mayor Eileen Wang, who’s accused of acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government while serving on American soil. “We just have to keep advocating for people,” he said. “Human rights is above politics.”
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The second panel also featured Uyghur survivor Mihrigul Tursun, Hong Kong activist Frances Hui, and Tibetan Buddhist leader Arjia Rinpoche, each detailing experiences of surveillance, repression, and state intimidation under CCP rule.
Calls for condemnation
Hui, who has a bounty placed on her by Hong Kong authorities, spoke emotionally about the pressure her activism has placed on her family and friends back home. “Every time I say something here in the U.S., I have to think about what would happen to my parents in Hong Kong,” Hui said.
Former Congressman Frank Wolf, a longtime advocate for international religious freedom and author of the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, closed the event with a forceful condemnation of the CCP’s human rights record. “We now know,” Wolf said. “We heard the testimony from the victims, and Ambassador Brownback’s book tells of it. So we can never again say, ‘I didn’t know this was going on.’”
Wolf called for Congress to ban lobbying efforts on behalf of the Chinese government, arguing that economic interests had muted criticism of Beijing’s abuses. “Silence in the face of evil is evil itself,” Wolf said, quoting German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. “Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
