CUS Press Release
For Immediate Release
October 21, 2025
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The Center for Uyghur Studies (CUS) has released a new report, “China’s Hypocrisy on Religion: Unveiling Contradictions in the PRC’s Religious Policies,” which exposes how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) presents a false image of religious tolerance to the world while carrying out one of the most severe campaigns of religious persecution in modern history. The report meticulously documents the contrast between Beijing’s international rhetoric of interfaith harmony and its domestic reality of repression against Uyghur Muslims, Tibetans, Christians, and other faith groups.
The report finds that while Chinese officials routinely portray China as a defender of religious freedom, citing the presence of mosques, halal markets, and Islamic associations, the Chinese government simultaneously enforces a sweeping system of control and assimilation in East Turkistan and beyond. Islamic practices such as fasting during Ramadan, wearing religious attire, or attending mosques are tightly restricted or criminalized. Thousands of mosques and shrines have been destroyed, and millions of Uyghurs have been detained in so-called “re-education” camps under the pretext of “combating extremism”.
Beyond domestic repression, the study reveals how Beijing uses religion as a geopolitical instrument, cultivating ties with Muslim-majority countries through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and other diplomatic platforms while manipulating narratives to secure silence or complicity from governments and organizations in the Muslim world. Through strategic partnerships, state-controlled media, and selective engagement with religious institutions, China projects an illusion of tolerance designed to deflect international criticism and legitimize its authoritarian policies.
“China’s hypocrisy on religion represents a dangerous double game,” said Executive Director Abdulhakim Idris. “While the Chinese government demolishes mosques and imprisons imams at home, it donates to mosques abroad and hosts interfaith dialogues to portray itself as a friend of Muslims. This deception not only insults the victims of persecution but undermines global moral standards on religious freedom. The Muslim world, in particular, must not remain silent in the face of this injustice.”
The report concludes with recommendations urging democratic governments, international organizations, and civil society to expose Beijing’s double standards and hold the CCP accountable through diplomatic, legal, and economic measures. It emphasizes the urgent need to stand in solidarity with persecuted communities including Uyghur Muslims, Tibetans, Chinese Christians, and Falun Gong practitioners, and to demand that China align its practices with the principles it claims to uphold.
“China’s Hypocrisy on Religion: Unveiling Contradictions in the PRC’s Religious Policies” is available in both English and Arabic for reading and download at the following links: [English] | [Arabic].
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