China's National People's Congress Opens as Regime Hopes World Ignores Ongoing Religious Persecution

China's National People's Congress — the nearly 3,000-member legislative body that rubber-stamps President Xi Jinping's policy priorities — is convening this week in Beijing to unveil the country's agenda for the next five years, while religious liberty organizations warn that the world's attention on the Iran war is providing cover for the Chinese government's ongoing persecution of Christians, Uyghur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, and Falun Gong practitioners. After more than a decade under Xi's rule, the Chinese Communist Party has intensified its campaign to 'Sinicize' religion — forcing churches to display Xi's portrait alongside the cross, detaining pastors, demolishing church buildings, and deploying surveillance technology to monitor religious gatherings. International Christian Concern reports that the NPC session will likely formalize additional restrictions on religious practice, even as the regime hopes the Iran conflict keeps the international community too distracted to notice.