The Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, John V. Hanford III, has presented the 2007 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom to the U.S. Congress, who has expressed concern about the recent Chinese government crackdown on religious groups to a certain extent in the lead up to the Olympics Game.
Mr. Hanford stated it appeared the Chinese government had launched this initiative –denying visas or expelling some Americans who were accused of practicing illegal religious activity there – to eliminate protest during the Olympics Game which would be held in Beijing next year.
"The fear of many is that the government is wanting these westerners out of the country; that their goal is to crack down on any chance that there might be protest in the run-up to the Olympics," he said.
The hope for Mr. Hanford, along with the religious monitoring government agency, was for the Chinese government to use the Olympics Game as an opportunity to show respect to religious citizens and their practice rather than to repress them.
In his testimony to Congress, Mr. Hanford also mentioned there had been cases where both Protestants and Catholics had suffered harsh treatment.
A few days ago, he said, there was a Catholic priest loyal to the Vatican who died in prison and was then cremated within six hours with no one able to see his body. In another case, he continued, Father Li Huisheng in Hebei was arrested and tortured in attempting to force the Catholic priest to join the Catholic Patriotic Association.
These cases of persecution were also similar to those of the Protestant faith, where they too had been subject to beating and harassment in an aggressive way.