US places China, Pakistan on list of religious freedom violators

BY A STAFF REPORTER: The Biden administration has placed China, Pakistan and 10 others on a list of countries that "engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom" during 2022. "Today, I am announcing designations against Burma, the People's Republic of China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, the DPRK, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan as Countries of Particular Concern under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 for having engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. The United States has also designated nine groups including the Taliban, and the Russian paramilitary organization Wagner Group, as "Entities of Particular Concern."