(Clearwisdom.net) The Central News Agency in Washington DC reported on October 26 that the US State Department has issued its Annual Report on Religious Freedom. In compliance with the Religious Freedom Act, five countries -- Myanmar, China, Iran, Iraq and Sudan -- were re-designated as "countries of particular concern." Also this year, the Taliban regime in Afghanistan is listed as a "particularly severe violator." North Korea was added as a "country of particular concern" for the first time.

The Central News Agency's news report said that according to the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, beginning in 1999, the US State Department was required to submit an annual report to the Congress on the status of international religious freedom every year. The report would designate nations in which religious freedom was most restricted as "countries of particular concern."

The news report also mentioned that the major role of this process is limited mainly to exposing the fact that these countries have not protected religious freedom, as there may not be any further sanctions given to these countries.

Regarding China, the "Executive Summary" of the Annual Report on International Religious Freedom states:

China. The situation for religious freedom and spiritual movements worsened in the past year. The Government continued its policy of restricting religious practice to government-sanctioned organizations in order to prevent the rise of sources of authority outside the control of the Government and the Chinese XX Party. [...] According to some reports, the Government intensified its harsh and comprehensive campaign against the Falun Gong spiritual movement during the early spring of 2001 and some practitioners reportedly died in prison due to torture and other kinds of mistreatment.

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According to Central News Agency's report, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that religious freedom is still an important issue in America's foreign policy, and that the United States will continue to promote religious freedom while attacking international terrorism.