SR90

WHEREAS, since 1999, the United States Department of State has labeled China as a country of particular concern regarding religious freedom; and

WHEREAS, in December 2023, the Biden Administration reported the People's Republic of China as one of the countries of particular concern regarding religious freedom; and

WHEREAS, in February 2024, the United States Congress introduced a resolution to recognize religious freedom as a fundamental right and expressed concern over continuing threats to religious freedom around the world; and

WHEREAS, the People's Republic of China has the highest population of religious prisoners in the world, many of whom face high levels of persecution, and are pressured to adhere to Chinese Communist Party ideology; and

WHEREAS, certain religious and spiritual groups have been banned by the People's Republic of China, claiming that these religious groups will use religion as camouflage, spread superstitious ideas, deceive members, and endanger society; and

WHEREAS, religious minorities have been subject to torture, mass arbitrary detention, forced disappearances, mass surveillance, cultural and religious persecution, separation of families, forced labor, sexual violence, and violations of reproductive rights; and

WHEREAS, regulations on religious belief implemented by the Chinese government only recognize five religions: Buddhism, Catholicism, Daoism, Islam, and Protestantism, but religious measures in the People's Republic of China's Constitution create undefined and broad religious regulations that do not guarantee the right to practice or worship; and

WHEREAS, as reported in a United States Congress Senate Resolution the People's Republic of China has harassed, intimidated, imprisoned, and committed acts of violence against minorities based on religion which include but are not limited to: Uyghur Muslims, Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, and Falun Gong practitioners; and

WHEREAS, the Human Rights Watch expressed concern over new regulations, worried that religious practitioners are expected to conform with ideologies of the Chinese Communist Party or risk imprisonment; and

WHEREAS, as reported by Human Rights Watch and the United Nations, the People's Republic of China has committed crimes against humanity for systematic abuse against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang; and

WHEREAS, in 2014, the People's Republic of China launched a movement titled Strike Hard Campaign Against Violent Terrorism that resulted in extreme religious regulations over Xinjiang and implemented punishments for religious online activities involving owning digital copies of the Quran; and

WHEREAS, as further reported by Human Rights Watch in February 2024, the People's Republic of China implemented regulations to tighten control over religious practices to sinicize (modify by or adjust to Chinese influence) religions as a new government priority under President Xi Jinping; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2024, that the government of the People's Republic of China is urged to stop the persecution of religious minorities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that if this practice is still state-sanctioned and continues, the United States Department of State is urged to express and promote concern over the violations of the People's Republic of China on religious minorities subject to persecution and deprivation of religious freedom; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States Department of State is urged to hold the People's Republic of China accountable for violating rights to religious freedom; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, United States Secretary of State, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the United States, and Hawaii's congressional delegation.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

People's Republic of China; United States Department of State; Religious Persecution

THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	90
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024
STATE OF HAWAII