By Elise Winland
Published November 18, 2025

              Republican Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey, a Catholic, will co-chair a Nov. 20 congressional hearing examining what lawmakers call the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) escalating “war” on religious believers. 

              In a press release, Smith’s office said the CCP has “intensified its drive for absolute control over religion, insisting that believers subordinate conscience and conviction to the Party and to General Secretary Xi Jinping.”

              The statement described religious persecution as “a core feature of Party rule,” pointing to sweeping regulations, detentions, surveillance, and harassment targeting Christians and other faith communities. 

              The hearing will focus on four areas: the CCP’s coercive control over religion, its repression of Chinese believers abroad, the national-security implications of Beijing exporting its model of religious persecution, and policy recommendations for a stronger U.S. response.

              The review comes weeks after the U.S. State Department condemned the CCP after reports emerged that authorities had detained roughly 30 Christian leaders across several major cities. 

              In its latest annual report, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said several regimes, including China, have systematically targeted religious believers. The review found that the CCP has imprisoned Christians, imposed forced indoctrination, and restricted worship across the country. One of those imprisoned is Catholic Chinese dissident Jimmy Lai, who has been held in a Hong Kong prison for about five years and now awaits sentencing.

              The CCP has also continued to justify religious repression through official messaging. As CatholicVote previously reported, an official Chinese outlet said Xi delivered a Sept. 29 speech calling for new steps to force religions in China to “adapt to a socialist society.”