Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  There are officials who are in charge of religious affairs and there are officials who are in charge of policies in certain areas like Xinjiang, so there are people you could target if you wanted to, but that would not be—

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I don't know much about that. In the case of the Early Rain church, I know that they and some Christian groups have spoken out about the case of the Uighur Muslims. I think that's important. That community often doesn't have a voice of its own within China because of the amount

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  A lot of activists in China—or regular citizens who might be speaking out about something—also use western platforms. They use Twitter, mainly, but now we're seeing those accounts taken down and those people being detained for using Twitter inappropriately—or whatever the justifi

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  In the case of China and the Uighurs and what's happening to other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, we did see a shift in the response from the Chinese government after months of more international attention, international criticism and coverage. I think the turning point was at a

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I would say that in the case of China, religious freedom has been enshrined in the constitution since 1982. There are protections for minorities based on their religious affiliation and ethnicity. I think Canada does have to tread a fine line in statements, because it could be po

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I'm a little bit biased, but I would say that China is a major hot spot and will be for a couple reasons. One is that even though the Christian population is probably 5% or less—I'd put it at about 67 million or 60 million, and that's a conservative estimate; other estimates are

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  It could impact the Christians in China if they are.... One of the people I interviewed was a student who had been sent away. He was a student at one of the seminaries. He had been sent out of Chengdu and he wasn't able to come back. What kept happening was that as soon as he wou

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  In Xinjiang, the minorities tend to be in certain areas, either in the southern part or in pockets in the north. For a long time, they were just among themselves. In that area of the country, though, Han Chinese is the dominant ethnic community, so they've moved in. Most Han Chin

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  In the case of China, social media has been pretty tightly controlled but it is used as a platform for some of these churches. I mentioned that the Rain still holds their services and they still put out daily scripture and sermons. In the case of China, social media is usually in

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Okay. People have been dialing in to live webcasts of the Early Rain Covenant Church in order to hold prayer meetings and gather, but even some of these have been stopped. On June 4 of this year, Chengdu police went into the home of one congregant and told him and his family tha

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Great. Thank you so much. In October of last year, Pastor Wang Yi, the head of the Early Rain Covenant Church in southwestern China, asked his audience a question: Have we made a difference? If tomorrow morning the Early Rain Covenant Church suddenly disappeared from the city of

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I'll start with a report I reported myself. It will sound like a newspaper story. Forgive me, but that's the format I'm used to. In October of last year, Pastor Wang Yi, who is the head of the Early Rain Covenant Church in southwestern China, asked his audience a question: Have