Rev. Johnnie Moore, a commissioner for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), was sanctioned by China on Wednesday in retaliation for the U.S. government’s sanction of a Chinese official.
The Global Times, which is a publication of the communist regime, reports the Chinese official was sanctioned for “violations of human rights” according to the State Department’s 2021 annual report on international religious freedom earlier this month.
Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson of the foreign ministry, said at a press conference that China is imposing sanctions on Moore, oddly accusing the U.S. of “blatant recruitment” for a group China has labeled a cult, claiming the U.S. sanctions were “based on lies and false information.”
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The Chinese government has banned Moore and his family from entering China’s mainland as well as Hong Kong and Macao, Zhao said.
#FMsays China decides to impose sanctions against the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom commissioner Johnnie Moore to prohibit him and his family from entering the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao, China. pic.twitter.com/fGONI8D7bo
— China Daily (@ChinaDaily) May 26, 2021
Moore, the president of the Congress of Christian Leaders, tweeted his response to the CCP, writing: “Here’s my response to being sanctioned by the #CCP this morning: ‘It is an honor to be sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party for giving my voice to the Uyghur Muslims, Christians (including Jimmy Lai), Tibetan Buddhists & countless others the CCP tries to silence …'”
Here’s my response to being sanctioned by the #CCP this morning:
“It is an honor to be sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party for giving my voice to the Uyghur Muslims, Christians (including Jimmy Lai), Tibetan Buddhists & countless others the CCP tries to silence …
— Rev. Johnnie Moore ن (@JohnnieM) May 26, 2021
Moore, 37, wrote the following summary in the individual views section of the 2021 annual report on China.
“China is relapsing to its cultural revolution, but with the aid of technology Mao could have only dreamed of—all of which it is using to pursue and enable genocide,” he wrote. “Communist China is not a ‘strategic competitor.’ The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is a hostile actor whose actions imperil the world, and its abuses have been made possible by inexcusable policies endorsed by Congress and the White House over many administrations.”
The USCIRF commissioner also highlighted the communist regime’s disregard for human life.
“It is time that the United States and its allies embrace a clear-eyed view of the CCP, recognizing that it is singular and distinct in its disregard for human life—not just human rights and religious freedom,” Moore continued. “It aids and abets similar activities by other countries all around the world. We cannot allow the international order, in pursuit of self-interest, to continue to let China play by its own rules. Those nations around the world that ignore the CCP’s malevolence will eventually find themselves subservient to it. It is past time for our world bodies and our liberal democracies to stand up to the CCP.”
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