US Political Figures: Human Rights and Religious Freedom Are Central to US-China Relations

On the afternoon of July 17, 2025, former US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour Robert Destro spoke at a forum on Capitol Hill opposing the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) transnational repression. (Samira Bouaou/The Dajiyuan)

[People News]“Are human rights and religious freedom merely ‘marginal issues’? Should we wait until we (the United States) have dealt with so-called practical political matters like critical minerals and tariffs before addressing them? Or should these issues serve as the lens through which we craft our foreign policy?”

“I lean toward the latter. Human rights are an inseparable part of our foreign policy.”

According to The Dajiyuan reporter Li Chen in Washington, D.C., these were questions—and the self-answer—posed by Robert Destro, former Assistant Secretary of State and law professor, during a hearing held by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

USCIRF Chair and former Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler also told The Dajiyuan after the hearing that human rights and religious freedom should be top priorities in U.S.-China relations and dialogue.

At the October 16 hearing, Destro said that U.S. diplomats must view U.S.-China relations with clear eyes. He reminded American diplomats to think about the connection between the “hot mic” incident during the September 3 Beijing military parade—involving Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin—and the issue of forced organ harvesting.

He said, “Let me remind you of a recent ‘hot mic’ event: during a conversation between CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, they discussed using organ transplants to live to 150 years old. Think carefully—if you are a U.S. diplomat sitting across from Chinese officials, they might see you as a potential ‘liver source’. That’s the reality. When you look closely at China’s organ-harvesting problem, you realise that’s the kind of regime we are dealing with.”

Destro further added, “And guess who were among the first victims of organ harvesting? Of course, genetic matching is required, but clients from the Middle East want ‘halal organs’, so the Uyghurs became targets. Falun Gong practitioners have long been used for organ harvesting. That’s who sits across the negotiation table from you—so we must be fully aware.”

The CCP’s forced organ harvesting was first exposed in 2006. Over the years, numerous investigations and reports have confirmed that the CCP has harvested organs from Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience.

In March 2020, the “Independent People’s Tribunal” released its final written judgment, concluding:“Forced organ harvesting has been committed for years throughout China on a significant scale, and Falun Gong practitioners have been one—and probably the main—source of human organs.”

“The persecution and medical testing of Uyghurs are more recent developments.”

The tribunal was chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, a British barrister who had led the prosecution of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević at the International Criminal Tribunal.

Regarding how the U.S. government should treat human rights and religious freedom within U.S.-China relations, USCIRF Chair Vicky Hartzler told The Dajiyuan:“The International Religious Freedom Act, passed by Congress in 1998, elevated religious freedom within our foreign policy to the same level of importance as economic and security issues.”

She continued,“Therefore, religious freedom should be one of the top priorities when our government engages with foreign leaders who do not respect it.”

“The International Religious Freedom Act provides our government with a set of tools,” she said.

Destro also stated that the U.S. government can take many measures to promote human rights and religious freedom in China.

He said, “I can tell you many ways to use tariff powers to advance human rights.”“Under the International Religious Freedom Act, these tools include diplomatic, political, commercial, philanthropic, educational, and cultural measures. We actually have a whole toolbox at our disposal.”

USCIRF Chair Hartzler added,“At today’s hearing, we heard grave concerns about people of faith being forcibly subjected to organ harvesting—especially Falun Gong practitioners. This is an utterly horrifying atrocity.”

She suggested that during the possible Trump–Xi meeting (to be held at the upcoming APEC Summit in South Korea), President Donald Trump should raise the issue of China’s serious human rights and religious freedom violations.“As our government prepares to meet with Xi Jinping soon, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom urges them to raise these issues alongside topics like tariffs. Religious freedom is a fundamental human right protected by international norms—and it is also the cornerstone of all other American freedoms.” △