China and involuntary organ harvesting

In 1955, Chinese communist leader Zhou Enlai declared, "We Communists are atheists".^[1] In 2015, the Communist Party of China reaffirmed that members of their party must be atheists.^[2]

According to a 2012 Worldwide Independent Network/Gallup International Association (WIN/GIA) poll, 47% of Chinese people were convinced atheists, and a further 30% were not religious. In comparison, only 14% considered themselves to be religious.^[3] See: China and atheism

Several researchers — for example, Canadian human rights lawyer David Matas, former Canadian parliamentarian David Kilgour, and the investigative journalist Ethan Gutmann estimate that tens of thousands of Falun Gong prisoners in communist China have been killed to supply a financially lucrative trade in human organs and cadavers, and that these human rights abuses may be ongoing concern.^[4]

Atheism is an integral part of Marxist–Leninist/Maoist communist ideology (see: Atheism and communism). In 1955, Chinese communist leader Zhou Enlai declared, "We Communists are atheists".^[5] In 2015, the Communist Party of China reaffirmed that members of their party must be atheists.^[6]

The atheistic communist regime of China has a long-standing track record of persecuting religious believers. In 1999, the publication Christian Century reported that "China has persecuted religious believers by means of harassment, prolonged detention, and incarceration in prison or 'reform-through-labor' camps and police closure of places of worship." In 2003, owners of Bibles in China were sent to prison camps and 125 Chinese churches were closed.^[7] China continues to practice religious oppression today.^[8]

However, despite Chinese communists efforts to suppress religion, Christianity is experiencing rapid growth in China (see: Growth of Christianity in China).