Bloody Red China

Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China, is wrapping up his visit to the U.S. Along the way, he has been met by various protesters, including a woman who disrupted a Washington press conference by calling on the Communist leader to end persecution of the Falun Gong. Though the Falun Gong is a semi-religious movement drawing on Buddhism and Taoism, the government opposition to the movement is similar to their harsh treatment of Chinese Christians.

In Communist China, human rights abuses against Christians are widespread. Though the State allows registered churches to exist without harrassment, these institutions are primarily little more than puppet churches, publicly supporting the Communist party. Those Christians who wish to worship conscientiously, without the approval and strict oversight of the State, have formed what have come to be known as "house churches". Though official numbers are not obtainable, some demographers believe there are upwards of 80 million house church Christians.

The State has been ruthless in their persecution of house church Christians. Christians and church leaders are routinely taken into custody by the police, and subsequently subjected to hours,days, or weeks of interrogations. These interrogations make frequent use of violence in the form of beatings and physical and mental torture, occasionally resulting in death. Humiliation and sexual harrassment of detainees is not uncommon. The Christian watch group Voice of the Martyrs has reported over 1300 arrests for 2005 alone. The U.S. State Department has declared China to be one of the "most systematic" violators of human rights in the world today.