International Christian Concern, a non-profit group that goes online as Persecution.Org, raised the need for President Joseph Biden, Jr. to continue former President Donald Trump's push for international religious freedom.
In a report published in their website on February 5, the International Christian Concern (ICC) expressed appreciation for Biden's declaration that one of his administration's policies is to "push back on China's attacks on human rights." This reinforced the foremost effort of the Trump administration to designate "China's systematic abuse of Uyghur Muslims a genocide."
However, the ICC said, the United States could go further than that by freezing "the U.S.-based assets of human rights violators and deny their visa applications."
"As important as the genocide designation and Biden's public statements are, Biden has the opportunity to do much more to advance international religious freedom, and not only in regards to China. He, and his chiefs at State and Treasury, have access to a powerful sanctions regime capable of putting a great deal of pressure on religious freedom violators all around the world," the ICC said.
The ICC cited the Global Magnitsky Act that empowers the United States to freeze the property of human rights abusers that they can extend in denying visa applications.
According to Human Rights First, the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act was approved by Congress in 2020. It was extended in its scope by Executive Order signed in Dec. 21, 2017 by former President Donald Trump.
"These can be powerful tools for discouraging persecution, since many of the people with power to persecute are the same ones traveling to New York to shop, going to Portugal for vacation, and sending their children to America for college," the ICC added.
"The Trump administration imposed sanctions on many religious freedom violators around the world, but many, many more remain untouched as the Biden administration takes over," it continued.
The Washington D.C.-based organization stressed that "violent atrocities against religion deserve rebukes" but the United States, along with its "allies in the international community," should go beyond "posture, condemn, and threaten" since they have the "tools" to put "words into action" by taking "advantage" of advancing "religious freedom in the world."
In his remarks on America's Place In the World given last February 4, Biden stressed that "American leadership must meet" the "advancing authoritarianism" of China and Russia. He said that America will "take on directly the challenges posed by" the country's "prosperity, security, and democratic values by our most serious competitor, China."
"We'll confront China's economic abuses; counter its aggressive, coercive action; to push back on China's attack on human rights, intellectual property, and global governance," he said.
Last Jan. 19, former U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo declared China's atrocities against the Uyghurs as genocide based on available facts his office have gathered over the years. Pompeo gave the declaration on his last day of office, prior to Biden's inauguration.
ChinaAid was first to hail the U.S. State Department's decision being its advocacies against the Chinese government prior to International Christian Concern.
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