00:00A new report from NGO Human Rights Watch says that China is persecuting Catholics who refuse
00:05to join its state-controlled church. The report says Chinese President Xi Jinping has curbed
00:11religious freedom in China under a decade-long campaign to stamp out foreign influences.
00:16Underground Catholic communities say they've been harassed and arrested for refusing to submit to
00:21the Chinese Communist Party. The churches have shrunk in number and influence after the Holy
00:26Sea in China signed a 2018 agreement allowing Beijing to nominate bishops.
00:32To learn more, our reporter Irene Lin spoke with Yaokun Uliol, a China researcher at Human
00:38Rights Watch and a co-author of the report.
00:41How has Beijing's attitude towards religions evolved over time?
00:46Since Xi Jinping came to power, the increasing escalation of religious repression is more
00:52evident, both from people's testimonies and also from the official documents that we have reviewed.
00:58Especially this month marks 10-year anniversary of the Sinicization campaign initiated by Xi Jinping
01:04in 2016, which basically calls for all religions to follow the Han-centric Chinese Communist Party ideology.
01:14What is the current state of Catholic churches in China, particularly the communities that
01:19you've described as underground?
01:21Catholics who are part of the government-run Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association
01:26is only recognized church in China. So if, you know, churches are not part of this
01:32Patriotic Association, then they are not recognized by Beijing and therefore subjected to persecution,
01:38repression and intimidation and harassment because they pledge loyalty only to the Pope,
01:44not the Chinese Communist Party.
01:45How has the 2018 agreement between the Vatican and Beijing affected Catholics in China?
01:52Underground communities are not going to have new bishops because according to the agreement,
01:57all bishops Vatican is going to approve will be, you know, proposed by Beijing.
02:02If Beijing does not propose any candidacy, then Vatican does not, you know, cannot appoint bishops
02:08to those churches. Therefore, underground communities feel betrayed by the Vatican.
02:16That was China researcher Yao Kun Uliol of Human Rights Watch.
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