Ahead of int’l religious freedom summit, Secretary of State Pompeo critical of China’s record

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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. (Photo courtesy: ABC)
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. (Photo courtesy: ABC)

(TibetanReview.net, Jul21, 2018) – China is on the wrong side of the religious freedom which is a fundamental human right, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said Jul 20, ahead of the opening next week of a three-day international conference on religious freedom. He has also said the Trump administration was considering taking multiple actions against Myanmar on the Rohingya refugee crisis.

On China, Pompeo has told the VOA news, “The State Department has made it clear that with respect to this issue (religious freedom), we think they (China) are on the wrong side of religious freedom, that they are a country of concern connected to that.”

He was stated to be responding to a question on repression against the Uighur Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists in the People’s Republic of China.

Pompeo has said the US puts religious freedom, this fundamental human right, at the very center of its discussions with every country with whom it interacts. He has added that the US stood as an enormous beacon of religious freedom.

However, he has also explained, “We understand that religious freedom is at risk in many places in the world, and yet the US has complex, broad relationships with many countries, including China, across economic and military and political sets of issues.”

Pompeo has also said in an interview with FRC Radio that it was incredibly important in Trump’s administration to make the case and sound the clarion call for religious freedom all around the world. “There are many countries in which religious freedom is not available. We believe that religious freedom is important for every citizen around the world and we want to bring everyone together to discuss how all faiths have the right – people, individuals have the right to worship in the way that they choose, or if they choose not to. And every country ought to honour that.”

The conference on religious freedom is being hosted by the State department. It will bring together government officials, representatives of international organizations, religious leaders, rights advocates and members of the civil society from around the world, reported the PTI news agency Jul 20.

US Vice President Mike Pence will deliver a key note address at the conference.

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