On January 20, 2021, Trump officially hands over presidential power to Biden. What is the political legacy of Trump’s four-year presidential administration in terms of advancing international religious freedom?
Holding the First Ministerial Meeting to Advance Religious Freedom
In July 2018, the U.S. Department of State held its first-ever Ministerial Meeting on Advancing Religious Freedom, with ministerial-level representatives from more than forty countries and civil society representatives from more than eighty countries in attendance.
The second Ministerial Conference on Advancing Religious Freedom in 2019, also held at the U.S. Department of State.
On July 17, 2019, Trump also met with 27 survivors of religious persecution from 17 countries, including Ms. Zhang Yuhua, a Falun Gong practitioner from China, in the Oval Office of the White House.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with survivors of religious persecution from 17 countries at the White House on July 17, 2019. Pictured is President Trump shaking hands with Falun Gong practitioner Zhang Yuhua. (White House video screenshot)
Trump told the survivors of religious persecution who visited the White House, “Each of you has suffered tremendously because of your faith, you have been harassed, threatened, tried, imprisoned, tortured.” “Each of you has now witnessed the importance of advancing religious freedom around the world.” “In America, we have always understood that our rights come from God (God), not from the government.”
The Third Ministerial Conference on Advancing Religious Freedom, held in the Polish capital on Nov. 16, 2020. The conference was conducted by remote video in response to the Communist virus Epidemic.
The Trump Administration makes international religious freedom a priority. on June 2, 2020, President Trump signs an executive order to advance international religious freedom. This is the first Time in U.S. presidential history that such an executive order has been signed.
Establishment of the International Coalition for Religious Freedom
On February 5, 2020, the International Religious Freedom Alliance (IRA) was established under U.S. leadership. At least 32 countries have joined.
The Alliance’s founding members include: the United States, Poland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina (PoK), Brazil, Bulgaria, Colombia, Croatia (Croatia), the Czech Republic, Estonia, the Gambia (Gambia), Georgia (Georgia), and the United States.
Georgia (Georgia), Greece, Hungary, Israel, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Senegal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Togo.
In its written declaration, the coalition also advocates sanctions to respond to violators of religious freedom in appropriate cases.
Publicly Sanctioning Communist Party Officials Who Violate Religious Freedom
In 1998, the United States passed the International Religious Freedom Act. Under the Act, the U.S. Department of State established the Office of International Religious Freedom.
Since 1999, the U.S. Department of State has issued an annual International Religious Freedom Report, and each year, the CCP has been listed as a country of special concern (CPC) for violations of international religious freedom.
On July 9, 2020, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against the CCP’s Xinjiang Public Security Bureau (XPSB) and four current or former government officials,. “for their involvement in serious violations of the rights of ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.”
On December 10, 2020, the Trump administration announced sanctions against 17 current and former foreign government officials involved in serious human rights abuses, including Huang Yuanxiong, a police officer at the Wucun Police Station of the Xiamen Public Security Bureau who persecuted Falun Gong practitioners in China.
Then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Huang Yuanxiong, a police officer at the Wucun police station of the Xiamen Public Security Bureau in China, was involved in serious human rights abuses. In particular, Huang Yuanxiong has committed serious violations of the religious freedom of Falun Gong practitioners, and has personally participated in the detention and interrogation of Falun Gong practitioners. According to relevant U.S. regulations, Huang and his spouse are not allowed to enter the United States.
On January 19, 2021, Pompeo announced that the Trump administration had found the Chinese Communist Party guilty of “genocide and Crimes Against Humanity” for its crackdown on Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang region.
U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo Calls on Chinese Communist Party to Stop Persecuting Falun Gong
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is pictured here.
On July 20, 2020, Pompeo issued an official statement demanding that the Chinese Communist Party must stop persecuting Falun Gong.
The statement reads, “We demand that the government of the People’s Republic of China (CCP) immediately cease its despicable methods of mistreating and abusing Falun Gong practitioners, release those imprisoned for their beliefs, such as Ma Zhenyu, and make public the whereabouts of missing practitioners.”
“The persecution of Falun Gong practitioners that has lasted for 21 years has lasted too long and must be brought to an end.”
In 1999, former Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin ordered the extermination of Falun Gong practitioners out of fear that the principles of the practice were different from the ideology of the Communist Party and that the number of Falun Gong practitioners exceeded the number of Communist Party members.
On July 20, 2020, Robert Destro, Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights, Democracy, and Labor, also met with five representatives of Falun Gong practitioners at the State Department. Samuel Brownback, the State Department’s Ambassador for International Religious Freedom, joined the meeting by telephone.
Levi Browde, executive director of the Falun Dafa Information Center, was one of the representatives of Falun Gong practitioners who attended the meeting.
Browde told the Epoch Times, “As far as I know, this is the first time a U.S. State Department official has met with Falun Gong practitioners on July 20, the anniversary of Falun Gong’s fight against persecution.”
Religious Freedom is the Cornerstone of America’s Founding
Religious beliefs are the cornerstone of the founding of the United States. In the United States, every person can enjoy the freedom of religion granted by the Constitution.
Jefferson was one of the founding fathers of the United States and the author of the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Religious Freedom Act. The Virginia Religious Freedom Act was officially passed in 1786.
To highlight the importance of the Virginia Religious Freedom Act, January 16, each year, is designated as Religious Freedom Day in the United States.
On January 15, 2021, Trump issued a proclamation declaring January 16 as “National Religious Freedom Day.
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