State Department Reports on Religious Freedom

Religion news service reports that the U.S. State Department, in its annual report on international religious freedom issued last Friday, admonished several Asian nations, including China, for severely repressing religion. Listing "countries of particular concern" that engage in or tolerate "particularly severe violations of religious freedom," the report highlights: Myanmar (formerly Burma), China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan. Compiled by diplomats and human rights activists every year since 1999, the 800-page report covers 198 countries and territories and is mandated by federal law. China's repression of religious freedom intensified in the last year, the report said, as churches were closed, foreigners detained, Falon Gong practitioners arrested and possibly killed, Muslims prohibited from taking the hajj to Saudi Arabia, and Buddhist monks were forced to undergo "patriotic education" campaigns, according to the report.