The United States should take a stronger stance against China’s human rights violations and religious repression, according to Sam Brownback, former U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom.
In a recent interview with EpochTV’s “American Thought Leaders,” Brownback compared the nation under the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to “a modern Auschwitz” and called on the Trump administration to “go on the offense” to address human rights violations rather than shying away from the topic.
“I think we need to elevate the issue and use it as an offensive tool,” Brownback said ahead of President Donald Trump’s high-stakes summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on May 14 and May 15.
According to Brownback, the United States should approach the issue from a position of strength.
He argued that a regime that persecutes its own people should be disqualified from global leadership.
“They are at war with us, whether we realize we’re at war with them or not,” he said.
“And we’re always best when we stand on principles ... and one of them is religious freedom, that everybody is entitled to do with their own soul what they see fit. We should take that message directly to the Chinese Communist Party,” Brownback said.
China’s human rights violations are also expected to be discussed at the summit.
Lai, a longtime critic of the CCP, has been imprisoned in Hong Kong for more than five years.
Chinese authorities also arrested Jin in 2025 over his Christian activities and leadership role as a pastor of Zion Church.
Brownback believes Trump will raise human rights issues during his meeting with Xi, though he does not expect a significant breakthrough.
“I’m just not expecting too much, because the Chinese Communist Party has set their face. They’re arresting hundreds of Christian pastors now. They beat on all these other people of faith,” he said.
Reagan’s Method
Trump should follow President Ronald Reagan’s example by publicly labeling China an “evil regime,” according to Brownback.In 1983, Reagan first referred to the Soviet Union as an “evil empire,” presenting the Cold War as a moral conflict between good and evil.
Brownback believes Trump should invite people persecuted for their faith in China to the White House to publicly share their stories and broadcast them globally.
He suggested including practitioners of Falun Gong, Tibetan Buddhists, Christians and Muslims, alongside world and religious leaders, to expose human rights issues in China and rally support for religious freedom worldwide.
Brownback also referenced Pope John Paul II’s iconic “Be Not Afraid” speech in Poland in 1979 before the fall of communism in Eastern Europe and said he would love to see Pope Leo XIV do the same in Taiwan.
“I would love to see the pope stand up in Taiwan and say, ‘Be not afraid.’”
Brownback believes that the United States should press the Vatican to speak out against what he described as “three genocides” taking place in China.
In his new book, “China’s War on Faith,” Brownback discusses ongoing genocides targeting Muslim Uyghurs, Tibetan Buddhists, and Falun Gong practitioners.
He says he’s using the legal definition of genocide, which he describes as the “intent to specifically wipe out or destroy a group of people.”
Brownback served as the U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom from 2018 to 2021 during Trump’s first term.
He previously served as governor of Kansas, a U.S. senator, and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Brownback believes it is important to distinguish between the Chinese people and the regime when criticizing China.
“I have an adopted Chinese daughter whom I love dearly. I love the Chinese people. I love the Chinese culture. I do not like the Chinese Communist Party,” he said.
“You’ve just got these two giant systems against each other,” he noted. “And really, the fight is between the CCP and Western civilization.”
